Small Problems
by Ghost of the Dawn
Summary: G1: Megatron has a ray gun that shrinks Autobots, leaving them two and a half feet tall and very far from home.
1. Day 1: Ambush Awry

Small Problems

Day One: Ambush Awry

By: Ghost of the Dawn

"Prime, I think this is what we've been waiting for," Prowl called from his place in front of Teletran One's satellite system. "I've got a large group of Decepticons mobilizing."

Optimus Prime was instantly at the side of his second in command, looking intently on the screen. It was indeed what they had been waiting for. For the past several months, Deceptions had been raiding and stealing technical parts from research labs all over the globe. All of it cutting edge and high tech. What they were attempting to make, none of the Autobots could guess. Even Wheeljack was stumped. Without an idea of what they were trying to do, it was hard to predict where they would hit next. Since the Autobots couldn't monitor the entire globe and all its technical facilities at once, there was only one thing to do. And that was to wait until the Decepticons had finished their project and attempted to use it.

Prowl had kept the base on high alert for weeks, waiting for the Decepticons to finally make a move. Now, that time seemed to be upon them and Optimus Prime was not going to let it pass by.

"Where's their destination, Prowl?"

"Its hard to say until they actually stop, but unless they're crossing the ocean, my guess would be somewhere near the east coast of the United States. They're either going somewhere big, like New York, or they might want some place secluded and head up to Canada. It's hard to tell."

Optimus took a moment to consider. "Either way, Megatron's on the other side of the county. We need to start heading out there now if we want to catch him before he can finish whatever it is he's trying to do."

"Roger that," Prowl agreed. "We need to dispatch a unit as soon as possible."

Optimus Prime opened his com link to his other second in command. "Jazz."

"Right here, Prime," Jazz said as he walked into the room.

"Oh there you are," Optimus nodded. "We need a squad assembled to go right now. Prowl, radio Skyfire and tell him to be ready at the base ASAP. Jazz, who do we have available to go at this moment?"

Jazz rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmm... we've got a lot of patrols out right now. Mostly the new guys that came from Cybertron. I could probably grab Wheeljack, Ironhide and Blaster."

Optimus looked at him. "That's all?"

Jazz shrugged. "Hey, it's been crazy around here lately. The last Decepticon scheme sent half our guys across the planet, remember? And we're the ones with Skyfire so it's taking them a while to get back. I could probably get Ratchet, too. But that's about it."

"No, Ratchet stays," Optimus decided. "Tell him he's in charge while we're gone. Jazz, Prowl, you're coming, too."

"Sir," Prowl acknowledged as he stood.

The doors hissed as another, much larger body came into the control room.

"There going to be a fight?" Grimlock demanded as he stomped in. "Me Grimlock want to fight Decepticons, too!"

Normally Optimus Prime wouldn't have wanted a bot like Grimlock to come on such a mission where they had no idea what was in store for them. But being as how he was terribly short handed for this battle...

"That's fine. Grimlock, you can come, too. Where are the other Dinobots?"

Grimlock thought about it for a while and then shrugged. "Dunno. Me Grimlock not their mom."

"Fine," Optimus surrendered. Now certainly wasn't the time to argue. "Jazz and Prowl, please inform Ratchet of our departure and assemble whomever you can find. Grimlock and I will meet you in the hanger as we wait for Skyfire."

Both seconds saluted and hurried off to fulfill the task given them. Neither one envied their leader and his job of baby-sitting Grimlock while they waited.

* * *

Minutes later, Jazz had everyone assembled: Ironhide, Wheeljack and Blaster. Optimus never failed to be impressed with how well Jazz knew who was where inside the Arc. It probably came with the fact that he was constantly visiting with everyone. Ratchet was there with them as well, arms folded over his chest and not looking too happy. 

"Something isn't right, Prime," he informed his leader. "This feels too deliberate. I think the Decepticons know how short handed we are right now. That's why they're openly making their move."

"Probably," Optimus nodded. "But we still have to go. Who knows what the Decepticons will do if we don't."

"And what would you like me to do in the meantime?" Ratchet then asked. "I could send a second group after you as soon as they start showing up."

"Wait until you hear from me. I'm already wary of the fact there's no one left to guard the base. As soon as we figure out what Megatron's after, we may send Skyfire back to pick up whomever's able. Right now we're going to wait and see."

Ratchet nodded, still not looking to happy with it all. "Okay Prime, just be sure to keep me--"

"Hurry Optimus or me Grimlock go without you!"

The Dinobot leader was already in the landed Skyfire and shaking his fist impatiently at them. Optimus threw a long suffering look at his medic turned base commander. Then he boarded Skyfire as well as the rest of the small group.

A flight from Oregon to the east coast usually took about eight to nine hours using normal commercial planes. Skyfire made it in four. It was still too long for comfort for Optimus Prime. He could easily tell Prowl didn't like the delay either.

The second was sitting more ridged than usual, watching his scanning equipment like a hawk. Three hours previous, he had confirmed that New York City, New York was indeed the destination of the Decepticons. That meant Megatron had at least three hours to prepare for his plan. That didn't sit well with Optimus at all.

The rest of his crew weren't too happy either. Wheeljack and Ironhide were trying to get Grimlock to stop pacing around and asking "When me Grimlock going to be there?" every five minutes. They weren't doing a good job of it.

Jazz was plugged into a transformed Blaster and both were drowning out the bickering with music.

Prowl, no doubt, had been able to tune out everything, keeping full attention on his equipment. Optimus envied his talent to do that.

"We're coming up on the city," Skyfire's voice announced to them.

"Roger that," Prowl replied. "We're getting Decepticon signatures strong now." He paused. "Megatron knows we're coming. We've got seekers heading straight for us."

"Skyfire, start descending!" Optimus ordered. "We're sitting ducks up here! We need to get on the ground!"

"Let me go a little further Optimus," Skyfire insisted. "I don't even have any Decepticons on radar yet. I can--"

He was cut off as his outer hull was peppered with laser fire. The jet shuttered at the impact.

"What on Cybertron is attacking us?" Ironhide demanded as he stumbled around.

"There's a seeker signature above us," Prowl reported.

"Must be Skywarp," Jazz jumped in, now fully paying attention. "No one else could sneak up on us that fast."

"Skyfire, take us down! Now!" Optimus had a hard time hiding the urgency in his voice. He ran over to the jet's hanger and opened it. Hanging by the rim, he leaned out and fired his blaster at the black and purple jet. Skywarp fell back from the attack and then disappeared.

Skyfire shuttered again as he was hit. This felt a lot worse than the first one.

"He got one of my engines!" Skyfire reported.

The Autobots could feel the jet losing power as they descended faster.

"Brace for impact everyone!" Optimus commanded.

The Autobots quickly moved to grab something solid. Grimlock's idea of bracing himself was turning into his dinosaur form. Despite Skyfire's best efforts, the jet went down fast with gun fire following him all the way. He fought to keep his nose up, but the belly of the large Autobot scraped roughly along the ground and Autobot bodies were thrown every which way at the circuit jarring landing. The jet slid for several kilometers before coming to a stop, one engine smoking heavily.

Inside, the scattered bodies began to come to life.

"Ugh... everyone in one piece?" Optimus called as he pulled himself to his feet.

Jazz relaxed from where he was curled around the red Autobot tape player. "We're good over here," he called, holding Blaster above his head.

In response, Blaster transformed into robot mode and pulled Jazz to his feet.

"All systems seem to be functional over here, Prime," Prowl called from where he was sitting. "Wheeljack?" He turned to the scientist sitting next to him.

"I'll survive," Wheeljack confirmed.

A piece of paneling between them suddenly sparked as it fell loose and the two jumped.

"All functional over here, too, Prime," Ironhide called from the back of the plane. "Grimlock, however..." He looked over at the large, robotic dinosaur who's head had gone right through the side of the plane in the crash. His back end was now flailing around as he fought to get free.

"Okay, get him out of there," Optimus said tiredly. "Skyfire, what's your status?"

"Not good," beeped Skyfire's control panel. "One engine is out of commission completely. Another is at 25 and I don't think I can transform. I'm stuck here."

"That's not what I wanted to hear," Optimus mumbled.

"Skywarp's coming back," Prowl called as he watched the radar.

"Everyone out!" Optimus ordered. "Take down that seeker!"

Jazz, Blaster and Prowl exited Skyfire with their leader, weapons at ready.

"Me Grimlock get flying Decepticon," Grimlock announced. He was still half way sticking out of Skyfire's hull, but stretched his head skyward and spat fire as Skywarp came into view.

"Ya big metal idjit!" Ironhide grumbled, still trying to pull Grimlock out. "Ya can't do it that way. Get yer head outta there!"

Wheeljack jumped in to try and help grab the squirming back end of the Dinobot. But Grimlock's tail kept thrashing this way and that in his excitement and both Autobots found themselves flung against the wall.

"Ya just had to make dinosaurs, didn't ya?" Ironhide grouched at the inventor.

"I still stand by my decision that it was a good idea!" Wheeljack insisted.

Outside, Skywarp circled to get another shot at the downed Autobots. As he fired, he was met with a barrage of return fire from his enemies; one shot of which hit his back rudder, making him wobble.

"Skywarp to Megatron," he radioed. "I've been hit. Request permission to return from the mission."

Over his radio, the voice of the Decepticon leader crackled back at him. "Are the Autobots down?"

"Yes sir! Mission complete."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, that Autobot Skyfire is a smoking scrap heap. They'll not be flying any time soon."

"Good. Then return, Skywarp. We have to prepare. Megatron out."

The black and violet seeker acknowledged the order and then teleported out of the immediate sky space. Stillness followed and no other attack came.

"Is it over?" Jazz asked from where he was using Blaster as a shield.

"Dude, that ain't cool!' Baster complained, pushing him away.

"Hey," Jazz insisted. "You were covering me so I could shoot 'im down! It was a team effort!"

Optimus ignored the bickering as he looked towards the sky. "It's odd that Megatron only sent one Decepticon after us and then he retreated so quickly."

"His objective was probably only to take down Skyfire," Prowl offered. "Which he did. For some reason, Megatron wants us to come by land."

"Well he's going to get it," Optimus confirmed. "We may not have any other choice. He turned his attention to the massive jet. "Skyfire, can you transform?"

"I don't think so," came Skyfire's low, disappointed voice. "And my engines are shot. I'm not going anywhere, I'm afraid. I'm sorry Optimus."

"You did fine," Optimus assured him. "The rest of us will take it from here. Autobots, lets find a safe place for Skyfire."

It was nearly an hour later by the time the Autobots managed to tow the massive jet some place with cover. They found a hollow in a small hill which fit about half of Skyfire's size; then they grabbed foliage from near by trees to try and cover the rest of him.

"I don't know how well this will work," Prowl frowned at their sloppy job.

"It will have to work," Optimus insisted. "I don't like how much time we're giving Megatron to prepare for whatever it is he's trying to do." He opened his communicator to Teletran One. "Optimus to base."

"This is Ratchet. What's the situation, Prime?"

"We were attacked by a Decepticon. Skyfire is down and badly needs repairs. I'm sending you his coordinates. We're going to have to continue on without him. Please send a rescue party for him as soon as you are able."

There was a pause on the other end.

"I still don't have much to work with Prime. As soon as anyone shows up, I'll send them out to retrieve him. That's the best I can offer right now."

"Understood. Just do the best you can. I'll keep you updated on the situation. Optimus out." He terminated the link and then looked at the remaining functional Autobots who were watching him expectantly.

"Alright Autobots," he announced, pointing at the horizon. "To the city."

* * *

Megatron stood as Skywarp teleported into the air space where the Decepticons had been stationed. The black and purple jet transformed as he slowly descended to the ground. The terrain was far too uneven for him to land in his alternate mode. 

Their temporary base was an abandoned construction site. Only very recently abandoned, thanks to the work of the Constructicons chasing off all the crew. Normally, Megatron wouldn't have bothered ridding any future battle site of humans. The deaths of such lowly creatures never concerned him before. However, he knew the Autobots. If they saw any of those pathetic organics around, they would use caution. And Megatron's plan counted on the Autobots rushing them with a full force attack.

"Report Skywarp," was Megatron's greeting. "What's the Autobot's status?"

"Skyfire is down, Megatron. The Autobots are proceeding by road. I counted seven total. Five vehicles, also Blaster and the Dinobot leader."

Megatron rubbed his broad chin in thought. That was about the number he expected with how thin he had spread the Autobot forces with fake raids across the planet. But of all the scenarios he came up with, none involved any of the Dinobots; one of the Autobot's last lines of defense. Either Optimus was getting desperate or...

"No matter," Megatron said out loud. "The result will be the same. As soon as those Autobots show themselves, their fates will be sealed."

Skywarp grinned at the thought and Megatron braced himself for the usual counter point that would follow.

_'So you say MIGHTY Megatron. But you have made this promise several times before.'_ Sarcasm in a high pitched voice was what Megatron was expecting to hear. Then possibly a jab as to the dubious position of his leadership after so many failures. But instead, Megatron received only silence.

Curious, the Decepticon leader turned his head to the red and white seeker who was off in the corner, standing against a building with arms folded.

"Nothing to add, Starscream?" Megatron challenged. "Usually this is the part where you give us your input--after all the real work has been done."

"Continue as you see fit, Leader," was Starscream's cryptic reply. "We shall see how it goes."

Megatron eyed Starscream suspiciously. It wasn't often at all the seeker passed up a chance to call the Decepticon leader on any past failures and further promote his own ideals as leader. But this time, not only was Starscream silent, he seemed very much disinterested in the plan at hand. Which also was odd for him. Next to criticizing his leader, it seemed Starscream's second favorite pastime was increasing Autobot casualties. The opportunity to do either hardly made Starscream move from where he was standing. But Megatron would have to wonder about that another time. The Autobots were coming.

"Very well. Just make sure you do your part, Starscream."

"Yes, Leader," Starscream responded again, not moving.

Megatron wasn't the only one who had noticed Starscream's odd behavior. As Thundercracker approached his fellow seeker, Starscream paid him just as little mind as he had Megatron.

"What are you plotting, Starscream?" Thundercracker accused. "You seem very distracted today."

Starscream frowned. Thundercracker had an annoying habit of asking him what he was doing out of the blue. This time was no less irritating. Starscream chose his words carefully.

"It feels like something is going to happen."

"Of course something is going to happen, we're setting a trap, Starscream," Thundercracker retorted.

When the red seeker didn't reply, Thundercracker tried again.

"Okay, what is going to happen then?"

"Change," Starscream said simply.

"Change?" Thundercracker repeated.

"Change."

"..._CHANGE_?!"

Starscream growled as he shoved his null ray into his comrade's face.

"You're getting on my nerves, Thundercracker," he warned.

The blue seeker instantly raised his hands in defense. "Point understood," he acknowledged nervously.

Starscream continued to frown, but slowly lowered his weapon.

Thundercracker was about to move to a safer spot, but decided to try his luck one more time.

"This change, Starscream; is it good or bad?"

Starscream looked towards the horizon and frowned at the strange wind his sensors were picking up around him.

"I'm still deciding."

"Hey Megatron," Rumble called to his leader. "Don't you think we should do a test run before the Autobots get here? You know, just to make sure it's working?"

Megatron eyed the mini Con. Apparently Starscream wasn't the only one acting odd that day.

"Another test?" Megatron asked. "We ran one at the base. What is the point of another one?"

Before Rumble could respond, Frenzy came to back him up.

"Yeah, cuz, you know, we transported it a long way. It would be good to make sure nothing... got damaged or anything."

Megatron looked at the two oddly fidgety tapes as he considered the suggestion. Perhaps they had a point. This close to possibly the last fight the Autobots would ever see, it may be best to err on the side of caution.

"Very well. Soundwave, bring forth one of the attack drones."

"As you command, Megatron," Soundwave warbled. He pressed a button on his chest, which glowed red, and beside him, a pile of scrap metal transformed into a robot. It then stood there mindlessly, waiting for further instructions.

"Observe," Megatron announced, always eager for a flare of drama.

He had been standing guardedly over a large, silver cannon for some time now. At the request, Megaton hefted it unto his shoulder and aimed at the drone, pulling the trigger. A blue light shot from the weapon, enveloping the mindless machine. The robot's optic visor flickered, almost as if it were aware of the danger, and then went out. For a moment, the robot stood still and then it crumbled completely apart. All the individual pieces fell to the ground, lifeless; dead.

Megatron threw his head back and laughed.

"This will be your fate, too, Optimus Prime! I will suck the energy from your very spark and you will fall into scrap at my feet! And then I'll go for the rest of your Autobots and they will be no more before the mighty Megatron!"

He raised his fists to the air and the rest of his Decepticons cheered.

Rumble and Frenzy exchanged relieved expressions and joined in the cheering.

"Megatron!" Skywarp announced. "The Autobots are approaching!"

"This is it, Decepticons!" Megatron bellowed. "Get into formation and wait for my signal!"

The Decepticons all moved into their assigned positions, strategically placed to box the Autobots in when they came. Then, as best as they could, the large robots hid themselves amidst the partial construction. Skywarp, the one who had shot down the Autobots, was the bate. He stood amongst the rubble, fully armed and ready to fight.

As Megatron predicted, the Autobots saw the seeker and picked up speed, throwing caution to the wind and attacking without restraint. The convoy of Autobots ran into the site and, as they reached a certain mark, the rest Decepticons made themselves known and attacked on all sides with full force.

It was then the group realized their mistake. They had been too eager to find out what the Decepticons were up to. The sound of firing weapons pierced the air from all sides.

The rest was a blur.

* * *

Crystal Carlyle left out the back door; it was closer to the bus stop. She hiked her gym bag higher on her shoulder and stepped out into the night air. It was after dark. She shouldn't have waited so long to head home. She usually didn't. But for some reason, she had a feeling she should stay for a while longer. So now she was making her journey back to her apartment, hoping she didn't run into some weirdo in a back alley after dark. 

Speaking of which, Crystal was hearing excited voices down the alley already. At first, she was a bit spooked as any normal, single woman walking alone in a dark alley would be. Then she realized the voices, though male, didn't sound all that old and hardly seemed to be talking about anything involving her.

There was only one way out of the alley so Crystal followed it towards the voices. Near the mouth, she saw two boys whom, she guessed were in their junior high years, talking excitedly while they fidgeted around a large dumpster. Every once in while, one would kneel down and shove a stick or toss a rock at whatever was beneath it. Crystal sighed. Boys will always be boys.

"What are you doing?" she asked the two teens.

"There's something freaky under there!" One of the boys said to her. "I think we should call animal control."

"I think you boys should just leave the poor thing alone," Crystal insisted. "It's just a regular animal and you're scaring it by poking at it. Just let it go."

"Nu uh!" The other boy insisted. "It's not a cat or a dog. I dunno what it is, but it burned me!"

"You mean it bit you," Crystal clarified.

"No, I mean it BURNED me."

Crystal paused and in the silence, she could hear some kind of growl coming from beneath the dumpster. There was definitely something under there.

"Listen boys, just go home and leave it alone. There's got to be something better to do with your time than this."

The teenagers frowned at being talked down to.

"Screw you, lady! I'm calling to cops!" One of them retorted. "Since you're too stupid to believe us!"

Crystal frowned as she pulled out her cell phone. "I believe the police is a great idea. Then they can help you call your parents and you can explain to them what you've been doing in the back alleys after dark."

The boys had a few more colorful phrases for her, but then retreated into the night. Crystal watched them go and then sighed as she put her phone back in her pocket. "Teenagers, they're such a pain in the ass," she muttered.

Next, she set down her gym bag and got on her knees. She wanted to follow her own advice and leave alone whatever poor animal had been cornered. But first she wanted to make sure whatever was hiding there hadn't been injured by the two boys. As she pressed her face to the ground, she squinted in the dim light. There was certainly something under there, but what it was, it was hard to tell if it was a cat or a small dog. Crystal decided to take a guess.

"Hey, you okay under there?" she asked in a friendly voice. "Come out where I can see you. Come on, kitty, kitty."

The creature shifted and then growled in a way Crystal had never heard an animal growl before. And then, the darkness was lit up by two glowing eyes and Crystal gasped.

* * *

_Run_, that was all he could process at the moment. It was such an odd concept to him. _Run for your life._ Not that fleeing from a stronger adversary was new to Prowl. It was the way of the battle: advance and retreat was the natural tide of warfare. But this had never happened before. The tide had never turned this quickly and he had never been so at a loss at what to do next. And he had never fled for his life on two feet, unable to transform into his faster vehicle mode before. 

This was because he was carrying Blaster with him--at least, the unresponsive form of Blaster in his radio mode. Something that would not have normally hindered Prowl in any way. But Prowl and Blaster's radio mode were not normally about the same size.

The radio was big and bulky and made it quite difficult to run. But Prowl just couldn't leave his comrade behind. Blaster's death would be assured if their pursuers ever found him. It was up to Prowl to keep his comrade safe, or die trying.

Rounding a corner, Prowl crouched in the shadows, hoping to buy himself some time to think. The whole ordeal had occurred hours ago and he had been running ever since. It was still hard to believe it had all happened to him in the first place.

The Autobots all knew it was a trap when they went into it. It always was. Megatron had been planning this for months. What kind of trap was the question. And there was no other way to find out, but to jump into the fray, guns blazing. Prowl had transformed the second he felt something was off, blaster in hand. All around them, the lifeless rubble had transformed into Megatron's drones. They were the first wave to attack, though hardly as deadly as the Decepticons themselves, but effective enough to be distracting from the real danger.

The first wave of drones barely launched its assault when Megatron had shown himself, waving around a large silver cannon, much more impressive than his usual arm cannon, and screaming for Optimus Prime like a banshee. Before anyone could react, Megatron fired. Optimus reacted quickly and grabbed the nearest drone, using it as a shield. The drone took the hit and as the ray hit it, it lost all power and fell apart in Optimus's hands.

Every Autobot stopped and stared as their sparks flickered with fear. Megatron didn't just have a weapon, he had a death machine. The moment Prowl saw it, he knew what he had to. His analytical mind took only a microsecond to process what Megatron had planned. He was going to take that killing machine and systematically wipe out the Autobots in small groups like this until they all ceased to exist. And his plan would completely depend on the success of this attack. Prowl had to stop it.

That day, it was mid afternoon and Megatron had purposefully placed himself in front of the sun. Another brilliant move on his part, Prowl had to admit. He did his best to filter the glare from the sun as he aimed. Then, Prowl did something he hadn't done in quite some time. He prayed as he pulled the trigger.

Prowl aimed for the weapon itself, hoping to damage it, but from the sound Megatron made when he was shot, Prowl surmised he hit Megatron's hand instead of the gun. However, the weapon still flew away from the Decepticon leader and clanked heavily against the wall. Megatron looked at Prowl. Prowl looked at Megatron. Both of them raced for the weapon.

Prowl heard Jazz screaming at him not to do it. Megatron was far closer. He would get the weapon first. But Prowl was still going to try. At the very least he would be able to buy some time for his friends, even if it cost him his own life.

Just as predicted, Megatron reached the weapon first. He snatched it up, sliding on his back and aiming towards Prowl. The police car jumped and Megatron fired. The shot rang true and Prowl was covered in a blue light. After he hit Prowl, Megatron got to his feet and began firing on the other Autobots without mercy.

The only strange thing was, after Prowl was hit, he was still aware of what was going on. The laser had hit him straight on; so why wasn't he dead? Why could he still hear the battle? Why could he still see Megatron firing as he flew through the air? Why wasn't he a lifeless pile of parts yet? And why... was everything suddenly so much bigger?

Prowl fell behind a pile of dirt and bricks, tall enough to block almost everything from view. Amazed that he was still alive, he crawled to the top, wondering how a pile that big got there, and peeked over it. Most of the firing had stopped. The Decpeticons were just standing there. A few looked bewildered. There wasn't a single Autobot in sight. Nor were there any lifeless Autobot pieces to be found.

But then, Prowl saw there was still one Autobot on the field.

Blaster was wresting with Soundwave. The Decepticon was on top, then Blaster got the upper hand and grabbed Soundwave's head. Then, for the oddest reason, even though he had the upper hand, Blaster suddenly bolted away. Soundwave sat up and, for an expressionless robot, he looked quite angry. He leveled his weapon at the fleeing Blaster and shot him square in the back. Blaster gave a soundless cry as his body instantly folded in on itself and a normal sized radio hit the ground and remained there.

Prowl wasted no time. He transformed as the Decepticon was stalking towards his inert friend. His speed was hardly as impressive as it used to be, but it still managed to get him there. Just as Soundwave was going to crush the Autobot radio with his massive foot, Prowl lunged and snatched Blaster out of harm's way at the last minute.

That was when Prowl got the full reality of his situation. Blaster's small radio mode was only about half his size and Soundwave looked as tall as a mountain to him. Prowl had no choice. He could not fight that in his current state and he could not transform if he was to take Blaster with him. So Prowl held the radio tight and he ran.

He had been running ever since.

It was after dark now. It had been hours since he had first given flight. But Prowl couldn't rest yet. He had been a tracker long enough himself to know when he was being hunted. Even though his joints ached and his power reserves were getting low, resting was not an option. To stop meant death–both his and Blaster's. No matter how much his body protested, Prowl wasn't ready to give up yet.

Prowl dashed down another alley way, trying to keep to the shadows. The radio clanged against his side, making it harder for him to move. It felt heavier by the moment. Prowl had to do something. He couldn't run all night. He had to take a stand somewhere; he had to think. But before Prowl could come up with a course of action, he found himself down a dead end alley. In front of him was sheer building wall that seemed to him, at his current height, to reach up to the sky. There was no where to go.

He turned to run back out, but there was already a dark shadow with glowing red eyes blocking his escape.

Ravage.

The metal panther, though hard to fathom, was taller than Prowl and easily twice as large. He growled and Prowl could see the sharp teeth of those powerful jaws shining in the dim light. If those jaws got a hold of him, it would be all over. However, he had no other choice but to turn and fight. As Ravage stalked towards him, Prowl pulled out his weapon and readied himself.

He pulled the trigger and Ravage lept out of the line of fire, right towards him. Prowl fired again and missed. He was so tired, his aim was failing. Ravage was going to hit his mark.

A second barrage of fire hit Ravage on the side of the head and the metal cat stumbled back. Between Prowl and the Decepticon landed Jazz, smiling in triumph.

"Ha! Didn't like that at all, did ya?" Jazz scoffed. "Now try some of THIS Ravage!" His hip compartments opened, revealing two large speakers. Though Jazz as well was smaller than his usual size, he still managed to emit a powerfully high sonic scream.

Ravage shrieked as the sound bombarded his super sensitive hearing. The robotic cat yowled and writhed in pain and then took off like a shot from the alley.

Jazz smirked, brushing off his hands. "That takes care of that," he announced.

"Jazz?"

Jazz turned around to see an exhausted, wide opticed Prowl. The two eyed each other. Both where the same size; roughly two and a half feet tall.

"What happened to us?"

"Slag if I know," Jazz responded.

"And that," said Frenzy as he walked into the alley. "Is the least of your problems." The mini cassette was now three times as tall as the Autobots and he pointed his blaster at them.

"You may have bested Ravage, but you won't get the best of me PUNY Autobots!" He laughed at himself for finally being able to use the term. "Prepare to meet the creator."

He slowly squeezed the trigger.

Another shadow dashed into the alley and there was a deep thunk as something heavy hit into Frenzy, knocking him over. Before Prowl or Jazz knew what was going on, Blaster was snatched up by the taller form and a voice screamed "RUN!" in their audios. The Autobots didn't need to be told twice. They both transformed and sped after their savior, blindly following their lead.

They fled through the twists and turns of the back alleyways. Every once in a while, they would pass under a street lamp and the Autobots would get a glimpse of the person they were following. It was a human and they were tall--which didn't really mean any specific to a two foot robot. Prowl just hoped it was someone they could trust. Though they seemed to be doing alright by him so far.

Their leader zipped down another alley and suddenly slid under a pile of boxes and garbage bags.

"This way," the human urged and the two Autobots did as they were told before they transformed into robot mode, ready for action. The human reached out and pulled on a stick that was holding up the crate above them. Once pulled out, everything on top dropped on them, completely burying them all in filth. The crate itself did little to protect them from what fell from above. They must have been behind a restaurant. It was rank and slimy, but they didn't dare move from their hiding place. If they were found, they were dead.

"Jazz," Prowl hissed. "Put your weapon away. Power it down. Power everything down. If Frenzy can't track our energy signatures, then he can't find us."

Understandably, Jazz was reluctant to loose his only means of defense, but he eventually returned his weapon to subspace and then Prowl could feel Jazz power down all unnecessary systems. Even his visor grew dim and Prowl did the same. Behind them, their human friend was laying flat on their side, Blaster's radio form still in their arms. Aside from panting from the run, the person hadn't made a noise. The Autobots grew quiet as well and waited.

Minutes later, an extremely angry Frenzy stomped their way. Through a few cracks in the crate, Prowl could see the cassette pacing in agitation. He looked fit to pop a gear over what had just happened to him. Prowl backed away further into the darkness, powering down his optics. His back pressed against the softer mass of the human behind him. He could feel the body trembling and fighting to breathe as quietly as possible. Prowl prayed the human wouldn't make any noise.

Frenzy barked out a few choice words and ran off. A few minutes later, he came back and combed the area again, then ran off again. At least Prowl's plan had worked. While Frenzy had a feeling they were somewhere near by, he couldn't track them at all. Being small actually had its advantages this time.

They stayed in there for over an hour, never emitting a sound. The human body had grown completely silent and still; never shifting nor uttering a noise in all that time. It became apparent to Prowl that the human was not going to move unless told to. So when he thought it was finally safe to leave their hiding space, he took command.

"I believe now would be a good time to go," he said softly. "But we can't stay here. We need to leave the area quickly and quietly, without a trace."

"Good idea," Jazz whispered back. "You lead."

Prowl slowly found a way to pull himself out of the garbage bags and boxes, followed by Jazz. Then together they lifted the flat crate so their new human ally could slowly inch worm out, and then lastly, pulling out the still silent Blaster. The human stood in the light and Prowl and Jazz could see they were dealing with a human female. She had long light redish hair tied back in two braids and looked just about as dirty as they felt they were.

"We need to get out of this area, fast," Prowl informed her.

The human nodded. "Come with me."

She took off at a run, taking Blaster with her. Prowl and Jazz, once again were following her lead, this time on foot. Each corner was a mystery as they made their way building by building; hoping the next opening wouldn't contain their death. But all remained clear

They ran down a few more streets before the human woman stopped and gestured to a pile of stacked boxes.

"I've got them, come on."

At first, Prowl and Jazz had no idea who she was talking to. Then something lizard shaped came out of the shadows on top of the boxes.

"Take you long enough. Me Grimlock wait forever. Not know if you in trouble; need me Grimlock to save you."

"Yes, yes, you're so brave," the woman assured him. "Come on."

Grimlock came forward and the human grabbed on his short dinosaur arms and yanked him off the box. Then she started running again with Grimlock in one arm and Blaster in the other.

"Hurry you guys, we can still make the--there it is!"

A bus was pulling up to a stop and she charged forward with a "Get on!" shoving the hesitant Prowl and Jazz onto the large vehicle. The driver looked quizzically at the odd group as they climbed on.

"The kids had a play at their school tonight," the woman explained without skipping a beat. She tried to balance the boom box and the metal dinosaur around as she fished out money for three passengers. "It was about robots."

The driver still didn't look too persuaded.

"They smell funny."

She kept her face sober. "I know. There was an accident. Sorry. We'll sit in the back."

There were only a few other passengers riding that night, but the group managed to get odd looks from every one of them as they shuffled down the isle.

Prowl and Jazz climbed onto the back seat. It was quite a different experience for the two Autobots to sit on something where their feet didn't touch the floor. The woman plopped down between them with heavy breath. Her hands were shaking.

"I can't believe we made it," she whispered. She glanced cautiously out the back window as if half expecting Frenzy to come charging out after the bus as it pulled away.

"Who... are you?" Prowl asked, eyeing the human quizzically.

She turned her head back towards Prowl. He noticed she had unusually large, round eyes for a human. They were deep green; haunted.

"Her name Crystal," Grimlock answered for her as he perched on her lap. "Me Grimlock send her to find other Autobots. But me Grimlock surprised her do it. Her dumb. Her think me Grimlock is kitty cat."

"I said I was sorry! Sheesh!" Crystal cried, grabbing Grimlock's head. "How about some gratitude for saving your friends here, lizard!"

"Me Grimlock not lizard! Me Grimlock not kitty either! Me Grimlock leader of Dinobots! Me Grimlock greatest Dinobot ever!"

Crystal slumped and sighed, realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere with this conversation.

"So where are we going exactly?" Jazz spoke up.

"Back to my place," Crystal smiled at him. "Don't worry, it's far away from here. I live in a completely different part of the city. You should be safe there."

"You think we should, Jazz?" Prowl leaned forward to see past Grimlock to the other second. "What about the others? We can't just leave them there."

"Yo! Look at us!" Jazz shot back. "It's not exactly like we could DO anything to help them. You're the one who's always telling us when we should back up and regroup. Well NOW is the time! We're no help to Prime if those cassettes slag us first."

"True," Prowl agreed. "It would be best to get out of the immediate danger zone and then wait for morning before going to search for them. In the mean time, we can try to figure out what happened. However, I'm not sure if..." He trailed off as he looked at the young woman between them. This wasn't her problem. By going with her, they could all be putting her in danger. The Decepticons certainly weren't going to show her any mercy if they found her helping the Autobots. The last thing Prowl wanted was to put anyone in danger because of them.

He must have had a worried look on his face, for Crystal smiled down at him and patted his helmet as if he were a child.

"Don't worry about it. Everything will turn out okay. You'll see," she insisted.

Prowl just continued to frown. What did one human woman know about... everything?

* * *

"Well, here we are," Crystal announced as they climbed up to the second story and unlocked her apartment door. "Safe at home base. You're welcome to use it as long as you need." 

The three robots tromped inside and looked around. There were a few lines strung about the room with multicolored clothing articles hanging from them.

"Nice place," Jazz commented as he appraised his surroundings. "I especially like the multicolored decor."

Crystal gasped as she saw all her panties and bras hanging in plain sight.

"Gah! Sorry! You weren't supposed to see that!" She cried as she jumped in front of them, embarrassed. She hurriedly went to collect her personal items. "My dryer's broken and I didn't think anyone would be coming by."

As she bustled about, the three Autobots regarded her with hardly any interest. Her panic didn't make any sense to them. Why did she worry so much about them seeing that material. The didn't even know what it was.

Prowl was already looking around, checking where all the windows and doors were. Grimlock was nosing around as well, but for entirely different reasons. Jazz was just going to make himself comfortable on the couch when Crystal came back into the room.

"You two," she said, pointing to Prowl and Jazz. "You're robots, right? Are you water proof?"

Jazz and Prowl looked at each other at the odd question.

"Of course we are," Prowl responded.

"Good, come with me."

The two followed her into a smaller room without carpet, white walls and bright lights. She went to a white ceramic fixture and turned a lever. Water gushed out of it into the basin below and then she looked expectantly at her guests.

"Get in."

The Autobots stared at her like she was crazy.

"Are you serious?" Jazz blurted.

"In," Crystal insisted again, pointing to the rising water in the bath tub. "You're both filthy and you reek." She made a face as she pulled a bit of garbage off one of Prowl's doors and tossed it in the trash. "Get in and clean up or I will do it for you."

Reluctantly, they obeyed. Crystal provided orange dish soap to help get rid of the smell and then unceremoniously grabbed Prowl by the doors and began scrubbing the parts the second in command couldn't reach. Prowl didn't look happy about it at all, but silently took the treatment.

"So you guys are Autobots, right?" Crystal asked as she scrubbed. "I've never seen one in person before. Just on the news and stuff. I didn't know any of you were this small. You all look so big on tv."

"Well, this isn't exactly our normal size," Jazz responded as he washed himself. "The Decepticons did this to us."

Crystal stopped scrubbing. "Oh? Do they have a shrink ray or something?"

Jazz and Prowl looked at each other.

"That just might be it," Prowl said.

"Yeah, except the first time Megatron used it, it didn't shrink that drone. But then... you shot it, didn't you Prowl?"

"Hm... a malfunction? Or it was damaged?" Prowl ventured.

"Heh, what are the odds that a death ray turns into a shrink ray when it gets blasted?"

"Death ray?!" Crystal interrupted, pulling on Prowl's doors more than she needed to. "So they were trying to kill you?"

"Of course," Jazz replied. "Or didn't you notice that with your tangle with Frenzy. If he would have found us hiding there, he would have killed us all."

"What you do in here?" Grimlock asked as he came in, still in dinosaur mode. He peeked over the tub full of water. "What this?"

"Bath time," Jazz replied lightly as he made a fist and squirted water in Grimlock's face. The Dinobot backed away a little to shake it off.

"He'll still kill us if he finds us, won't he?" Crystal asked.

"Yes," Prowl told her simply.

Crystal sat back on the toilet lid, thinking about her predicament. In the back of her mind, she understood the situation from the beginning. But to hear it out loud made the reality of it fully sit on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry you were involved," Prowl said.

Crystal shook her head with a smile. "Don't worry about it um... your name is?"

"Prowl."

"I'm Jazz."

"Me Grimlock!"

"I know who YOU are," Crystal responded to the Dinobot. "You never let me forget."

"What did you hit ol' Frenzy with anyway?" Jazz asked. "He fell like a sack of bricks."

"A sack of bricks," Crystal replied, a bit of humor in her voice. "More specifically, my duffel bag full of bricks. Threw out my arm, doing it, too." She rubbed her shoulder and moved the muscles around.

"Well you saved us at any rate," Jazz said. "And we'll do everything we can to make sure nothing happens to you."

"Me Grimlock want in, too."

Crystal jumped back a bit in surprise as Grimlock transformed into his robot mode and climbed in the tub between Prowl and Jazz. The three sat there in the soapy water and looked at each other.

Jazz sized up the Dinobot leader for the first time since they had been reunited.

"Since when are you shorter than me?" Jazz demanded.

"Me Grimlock get hit twice, me think."

Prowl got a certain look of disgust on his face.

"I'm getting out," he grumbled as he climbed over the side.

Crystal was there to hand him a towel which he took and then insisted he could dry himself off without any help and then left the room.

"Is he mad?" Crystal wondered.

"Nah, he's just Prowl," Jazz said, still lounging comfortably in the warm water. "It's just in his process to be that serious. It's nothing personal."

Crystal nodded. "Right then, let's get you guys out so I can have a turn. I'm not smelling much better."

* * *

Later that night, the Autobots were gathered in the small living room while Crystal locked herself in the bathroom to shower. They could hear the water running as they bided their time. 

"Me Grimlock all shiny now," Grimlock, now back in dinosaur mode, preened in front of his reflection in the tv.

As usual, he was ignored.

"So what's the game plan now, chief?" Jazz asked from where he sat the couch.

Prowl walked over to the glass door that led out to the balcony. He stared at the lights of the city as he thought it over.

"We need to figure out what happened. And we need to find Optimus, Wheeljack, and Ironhide. And we need to contact the base some how. Jazz?" He looked to the communications expert.

Jazz shook his head. "No can do, Prowl. I'm willing to bet my new hubcaps those Decepticons are still out there hunting for us. If I tried to contact the base or any body, they'd be here in a nano click. Megs probably has Soundwave probing for any kind of signal to try and find us. I just hope the others realize this and maintain radio silence until we find them."

"If we find them," Prowl corrected. "That's one big city out there. Three tiny Autobots... the possibilities are not in our favor."

Jazz looked at him with a degree of irritation. "You're such a joy to work with. I want you to know that."

"Ah, much better," Crystal announced as she emerged in pajamas with damp hair wrapped in a towel. "Now to get to your friend." She took Blaster off the counter and set about wiping all the muck off with a cloth. She scrubbed a few times and then held the boom box at arm's length.

"This IS a robot, too, right? Of...some kind?" she wondered at the silent machine.

"Yeah, Blaster's one of us," Jazz confirmed as he squatted next to her. "Though he has been a bit quietly lately..." He tapped the radio with the back of his hand. "Yo, dude! You in there?"

Nothing but silence came from the Autobot. It was as if he were any other normal house hold device.

"Is he broken?" Crystal wondered.

"Soundwave shot him," Prowl said as he came up and inspected Blaster himself. "He transformed when he was hit. I haven't heard a sound from him since. Something in there is malfunctioning."

Crystal went back to cleaning him. "Well you can certainly keep him here for as long as you need to. Same goes for the rest of you. I'll help you any way I can, just let me know what I can do for you."

"I'm afraid there isn't much you can do," Prowl informed her. "We would certainly like to keep you out of this as much as possible. We'll only be using your quarters for a short time."

"What exactly do you need to do?" Crystal asked.

Prowl sat himself on the floor next to her, looking a bit tired as he thought over exactly what they needed to accomplish in order to life and, hopefully, go back to their normal lives.

"We need to find the three missing members of our team before the Decepticons do."

"You think they're still out there?" Crystal wondered.

Jazz threw Prowl a certain look, waiting for his usual grim diagnosis.

"There is a possibility," Prowl admitted. "At least for a time. The only cassettes I saw in the area were Ravage and Frenzy. That leaves Rumble, Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw unaccounted for. Which may confirm that they were trying to find the other Autobots which had fled in a different direction."

"And the fact that we never saw them chasing us means they were still looking for the others as well," Jazz finished.

"At that moment anyway, yes. It's a possibility," Prowl nodded. "Either way, we need to make the attempt to search for them. Or at least find out what the Decepticons are doing. And, if possible, contact the base in some way. We need to warn them of what Megatron has and send reinforcements."

"Getting us back to normal would be nice, too," Jazz quipped.

"Is a lot to do," Grimlock grumbled, his tail swishing in agitation.

"Well, as I said before," Crystal put in. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you need. And I'll do everything I can to help. We'll just take it all one step at a time."

"You," Prowl informed her. "Will stay out of the way as much as possible. If the Decepticons found–"

"Hey! Movies!" Jazz had wandered off and found himself a cabinet full of DVDs and VHS tapes. Now he was staring at the full shelves with a glint in his optic band. "Primus must be smiling on me today." He turned his grinning face towards Crystal. "Can I? Pretty please?"

She chuckled. "Have at it. Just don't scratch my disks."

If Prowl had normal eyes, he would have rolled them about now.

Crystal placed the now clean Blaster back on the counter. "Well, unfortunately, it's after midnight and I do have to go to sleep. I have work tomorrow morning so balancing all this may be a bit tricky. But I'll figure it out tomorrow. Is there anything I can get you guys before I go to bed? Are you hungry or...?"

"We don't eat food," Prowl informed her.

"What about sleep?"

"No. Our energy reserves should hold us until we can get back to our base."

"Oh." Crystal just stood there, feeling stupid and not very useful at all. "So... what are you guys going to do tonight? I have to sleep. I can't stay up with you.

Jazz was already making a stack of movie titles he wanted to see. "I'll be fine until morning!" he chirped happily.

Grimlock was crouched, glaring suspiciously at a white plush bunny that was on the couch.

"We are fine. We can occupy ourselves until morning," Prowl assured her pragmatically.

A bit deflated at her lack of ability to be helpful, Crystal drooped her shoulders. "Alright, um... yeah, I'll see you in the morning.. I guess..."

She padded softly to her room and Prowl could hear her close her door. In the living room, Jazz had flipped on the tv and was eagerly setting his first selection into the DVD player. Prowl advised him to keep the volume down.

A few minutes in, a muffled cry came from the bedroom.

"KILLER ROBOTS?! WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?!"

Surprised, Prowl turned to Jazz who only smiled at him.

"There we go," Jazz grinned. "I was starting to wonder about her. But I think it will be fine."

Prowl just sighed. It was going to be a long night.


	2. Day 2: Destined to Meet

Small Problems

By: Ghost of the Dawn

Day Two: Destined to Meet

From his temporary underground base beneath New York City, Megatron was getting impatient. It had been the previous afternoon since his ultimate weapon had gone awry and it had shrunk six Autobots instead of draining the energy from their sparks. Needless to say, it had thrown the Decepticons off for a moment went it happened. However, Megatron was quick to recover. The Autobots were too small now for any of them to chase. They were smaller than even those disgusting human creatures. Megatron instantly ordered Soundwave to eject all his cassettes which were a more appropriate size and send them out to search.

It was now near dawn the next morning. None of the cassettes--not a single Decepticon had found anything. Megatron's patience was waning. He got up and started pacing in agitation around the room. Skywarp and Thundercracker watched him in guarded silence. One wrong move and a robot body just may find himself at the receiving end of their leader's wrath.

There was a commotion further down the tunnels as Frenzy and Rumble approached. Both of them were in some kind of heated argument and both were talking so fast at the same time, neither's argument was understandable with the other drowning them out. But both fell silent as Megatron's looming form came into view.

"Rumble! Frenzy! Report!" Megatron barked.

Both stayed quiet for a while, fearing the repercussions. But then, they also knew staying silent wouldn't keep them from getting slagged either.

"We can't find them!" Rumble blurted. "Those slaggin' mini bots have taken off and hidden somewhere like the cowards they are! They're scared of me 'n Frenzy! They won't come out and fight!"

Storm clouds seemed to materialize in front of Megatron's face as he continued pacing.

"This does not make me happy," he growled. "I should have had Optimus Prime's lifeless body at my feet by sundown yesterday. My ultimate weapon was not meant to do this. This is not acceptable."

"But Megatron," Fenzy put in. "We still beat the Autobots. They're tiny now; harmless. You still have a shrinking ray. If you managed to shrink all the Autobots--"

"FOOLS!"

On instinct, Skywarp and Thundercracker ducked seconds before there was a gaping, smoking hole in the wall behind them, courtesy of Megatron's arm cannon.

"I don't want a weapon that_shrinks_ Autobots! I want a weapon that KILLS Autobots!" He kicked at a pile of scrap for emphasis of his malcontent. "I don't care the size, I want Optimus Prime's head for my wall! No matter what! SOUNDWAVE!"

"Yes, Megatron." Soundwave's dark blue form seemed to materialize out of the shadows as he was summoned.

"Soundwave, you built this faulty device, fix it!"

"As you command, Megatron." Soundwave turned smartly away and marched off to fulfill the task given him.

"The rest of you," Megatron announced. "Continue searching the area. I mean everyone! The Autobots will NOT leave this city, no matter their size! Is that understood?"

His team looked dubious, but all nodded.

* * *

_She could remember her mother's smile and how she used to laugh. And how she always looked bravely ahead with eagerness at any new challenge that came her way._

_"Crys," she would always say. "Don't fight the change, rise to meet it. There are greater powers at work here. Every place we go, everything that happens, is all for a reason. We all have a greater purpose. To find it, we must go where destiny takes us and keep our eyes open."_

"Hey, hey. Wake up. Open your eyes!"

Crystal groaned as the insistent voice prodded her out of sleep. She groggily opened her eyes to see a white number in front of her face.

"Four?"

She looked higher to see a grinning mouth and a bright blue band of light.

"Hi!" Jazz greeted her. The little Autobot was sitting on her mid section, looking quite pleased with the job he had done.

"What?" Crystal mumbled. "What is it?"

"It's time to wake up," Jazz informed her. "Come on."

She did not reflect his good mood as she dragged herself out of bed and followed Jazz into the living room. Slowly, the previous night all came back to her.

_Mom, Not everything happens for a reason. I don't believe I was meant to have three robots in my apartment._ Scratch that. Four robots, if that radio on the counter ever decided to do anything.

Crystal looked at the clock on the wall and her jaw dropped.

"It's freaking 6 am!" she squawked.

"Prowl said humans can run on five to six hours of sleep," Jazz defended.

Crystal shot a crusty look towards the black and white Autobot who was sitting on her couch with a book in his lap. "I wanted more," she grouched.

Prowl gave a look that insinuated he hadn't considered that possibility.

Crystals eyes then fell upon a pile of white cotton on the other side of the couch. It took a moment for the full horror to seep in.

"MISTER FLOPSY!!" Crystal cried, throwing herself on the couch and handling all the pieces of the torn up plush bunny. She shot daggers at Grimlock who still had some cotton hanging from his mouth.

"Oh, were we not supposed to let him do that?" Jazz asked innocently.

"Bad dino! Very bad!" Crystal shook her finger at Grimlock as if he were a dog.

"Me Grimlock no bad dino! Me king of all Dinobots!" Grimlock insisted, spitting out the cotton.

Crystal's face twisted back into a pout as she gathered what remained of the rabbit in her arms. "It's too early for this..." she whimpered and curled back up on the couch amidst the cotton and torn material.

"Hey, don't go back to sleep," Jazz urged as he climbed onto the couch and then onto Crystal's back. "You have to tell us where the slag we are in this city. We're flying blind right now."

"Jazz," Prowl hissed. "Stop crawling all over her."

"Aw, she doesn't mind," Jazz insisted. He swatted at the girl's cheek. "Hey! Look alive! We need answers!"

Crystal reached up an arm and snatched Jazz, pulling him down to lay next to her. She snuggled closer as if he were a teddy bear.

"Another hour.." she mumbled.

"Ack! Prowl! Pst! Prowl! Help me out here!" Jazz floundered his free arm, trying to get Prowl's attention.

In turn, Prowl just shook his head.

"You're warm," Crystal mumbled, pulling Jazz closer and resting her head on his shoulder.

At this time, Grimlock wandered over. He transformed into robot mode so he could climb on the couch and then back into dinosaur mode where he also climbed over the now sleeping human and wheedled himself between her and the couch, resting his head on her neck. Jazz had already resolved himself to his fate and the three of them remained silent. Prowl went back to reading his book.

Roughly an hour later, Prowl reached out and grabbed Crystal's foot, shaking it a little.

"It's seven o'clock now. You wanted to get up at this time."

Only a tired moan from Crystal's side of the couch.

"Hey!" Grimlock demanded from where he was tangled in her long, red hair. "Prowl say time to get up!" He tapped at her skull with one of his dinosaur fore claws. "Me Grimlock say is not good idea to no listen. Him know stuff!"

Crystal thrust an elbow at him to shut him up and grabbed a pillow to cover her face--also part of Jazz's who was still in her arms.

A bit irritated, Grimlock kicked into stage two. He ripped the pillow from her with his jaws and then grabbed the skin of her cheek, pulling on it.

"Me Grimlock say get up or me Grimlock set your face on fire." Grimlock informed her. "It never happen to me Grimlock, but me guessing it no feel good."

With a groan, Crystal tiredly heaved herself from the couch, taking Jazz with her. He hung there limply like a doll; giving Prowl a "why me?" look as he was carried off down the hall.

Crystal shuffled into the bathroom and set Jazz on the counter. Then she looked in the mirror and made a face at the pathetic looking person blinking back at her. She made an "ugh.." sound at her reflection and then set about trying to brush out her wild mane of hair. The fact that Grimlock had previously made a nest of it didn't help at all.

"So?" Jazz prodded as he watched them both in the mirror. "How about an address, Sleeping Beauty? Where are we?"

Crystal pulled up her hair and sighed.

"Give me a few more minutes, kay?" she ground out of her hoarse throat. Jazz watched in fascination as she slipped in a pair of contact lenses and shuffled off into her bedroom, shutting the door.

Ten minutes later, Crystal emerged again, dressed smartly in a pressed, black skirt and looking fresher.

Prowl followed her around expectantly into the kitchen where she poured herself a bowl of cold cereal and sat on the couch to eat.

"We need to start looking for the other Autobots," Prowl informed her. "You have to tell me where in the city we are and where we need to go."

"I told you, I can't help you this morning, Shorty," Crystal replied, mouth still half full. She quickly swallowed before continuing. "I have to go to work. We can do all of that when I get back."

Prowl's doors seemed to sag. "How long will that be?"

"About eight hours. I work full time."

"That's too long. We need to get out there now."

"And do what?" Crystal argued. "You going to fight those guys again? You were running as scared as the rest of us last night. I guarantee you those Decepticons are still out there combing that area, maybe even further now. If your friends are out there, they're probably laying low still. They'll be impossible to find. Not to mention you'll get both you and them killed if you call them out in the open at the wrong time. I say you wait a while longer until I can help you guys out. Then we'll come up with a plan."

Plan's were Prowl's weakness and Jazz knew it. He took his turn to jump in.

"It's probably a good idea," he agreed. "We definitely can't go in there with our servos crossed just hoping to find them. We need to wait until we know what we're doing. Preferably also when the Cons aren't combing the place for us. There's got to be something else we can do in the meantime to prepare."

"Little Four has a point," Crystal agreed as she finished up her cereal. "And you're more than welcome to at least get familiar with this neck of the woods. I can leave you a spare key and you can have a look around."

Jazz and Crystal looked at Prowl hopefully. The police car took a moment to think.

"It might be a good idea," Prowl admitted. "To be familiar with the local surroundings, should anything happen."

Crystal didn't like the insinuation that the Decepticons may be led to her place. But it was too late to back out now.

"Right," Crystal nodded. "I'll make sure I get you the key before I leave."

She got up to deposit her bowl in the sink and then disappeared in the back of the apartment again.

Jazz grinned over at Prowl's grim expression.

"I don't like this," Prowl informed him. "We shouldn't be waiting around here all day just for her to get home. And we DEFINITELY shouldn't be involving humans at all. This is dangerous and it's not her fight. It's irresponsible to stay here."

"In an ideal world, perhaps," Jazz offered. "But we've got no choice. We need a safe place to operate. And we need her because she knows this city better than we do. We have to stay, at least for a while."

"Me Grimlock like it here," Grimlock said without invitation. He was lounging around in the soft remains of Mr. Flopsy. "It quiet here. No Dinobots touching me Grimlock's stuff. No Optimus Prime bug me Grimlock to save him and Autobots. No Wheeljack make me Grimlock run stupid tests. No Sideswipe use me Grimlock like spring board. Me Grimlock could get used to this."

Jazz gave Prowl another grin. "Two against one, Prowlie-Boy."

Prowl turned and trudged off, surrendering to his fate.

* * *

As she promised, Crystal left an apartment key with the trio of tiny robots with a "Don't let him chew on anything else" before she left. Prowl made them get to work right away. He had found himself a notebook and writing supplies. The first thing he did was map out the apartment: one room for sleeping, then the one they were given the bath in. Then there was a large living area in the front with an adjoining area meant for food preparation. Next went notations of all possible exists: the bedroom window, main door, and the glass door leading out to the balcony. 

Next, Prowl had the three of them all split up and take a look outside the apartment complex. He gave specific instructions not to be seen by any other humans. So the three of them lurked around under cars and in the shadows as they spread out and took note of the area. Prowl wanted everything. How many buildings in the complex, where they were in the complex, what street they were on, and everything that was around them.

The whole exercise filled up most of their day. Though it had to be cut short mid afternoon when Grimlock ran into someone's Pekinese and they all fled for cover back to the apartment. However, they had managed to gather enough information to make some fairly accurate maps over their surroundings and Prowl was quite satisfied with them.

The last few hours were spent with Jazz watching day time court tv on the couch while Grimlock nosed around under it. Prowl took note Grimlock hardly transformed out of his dinosaur mode the entire time they had been in this place. He usually wandered around in root mode when he was at the Autobot base. Maybe, Prowl theorized, it made Grimlock feel safer to stay in dinosaur mode here. Even he had to admit, being this size with enemies so large, in a city so unfamiliar and with a guardian so frail; it was all a bit intimidating even to him. Prowl freverently hoped it would all be over soon.

* * *

"Hey guys!" Crystal sang as she waltzed into the door, plastic bags hanging from her arms. "Everything is still in one piece. Excellent! How did it all go?" 

"I'm getting so bored!" Jazz exclaimed as he jumped off the couch and ran over to her and tugged on her skirt hem. "Judge Judy is over. Let's go do something before I blow a fuse!"

"Calm down, Four," she responded. "We will. And I brought you guys some stuff." She reached into her bag. "First, for Sir Chomps-A-Lot..." Crystal pulled out a grotesquely cartoonish animal of some kind made of plastic and tossed it in Grimlock's direction. It bumped into the Dinobot's rear flank and he snapped at it. The thing squeaked as it was bitten and Grimlock instantly let it go, jumping to his feet and circling it curiously.

"And I kept thinking about your radio friend, and how he can't talk," Crystal continued as she pulled out a blank cassette tape. "I have a crazy idea, but it just might work."

Jazz and Prowl gathered around her as she sat with Blaster on the floor, put in the blank cassette and pushed record. She then encouraged Jazz and Prowl to talk to him to see if he could record some kind of response to them. After a minute or so, Crystal stopped the tape and rewound it. The three of them listened anxiously as the tape was played back.

They were disappointed to find all they got was an odd static sound. But nothing resembling words.

"Man, poor Blaster. He's really busted," Jazz lamented.

"And I'm out of ideas," Crystal said. "I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to try and take him anywhere to get fixed. Who knows how other people would react to know they had a robot on their hands." She put Blaster back on the counter. "He's just going to have to wait until I can get you back home."

"Are you able to show us the city now?" Prowl asked, trying not to sound too insistent.

"Yes," Crystal informed him. "Let me just get out of this skirt and these heels and I'll show you around."

A few minutes later, she was in a pair of torn jeans and back in the living room, pulling a big map from her bag and laying it out on the floor. Prowl's optics lit up and he was instantly at her side, taking note of everything.

"I have to work tomorrow, too, so I'm still not much help I'm afraid. But maybe if I can show you where you're going, you could find your way there yourselves if you wanted. Now let see.." She reached into her bag and pulled out a red marker.

"This is the best map of Central New York I could find. We're located here." She circled her neighborhood. "This is the route we took on the bus..." she lightly put small x's on the roads they took. Then she leaned in closer to get a better look at the different blocks. "I think I found Grimlock about here and Jazz and Prowl... maybe around here." She lifted her head and looked at Prowl. "That's about the extent of what I know from last night."

Prowl took over, lightly kneeling on the vast map to get a better look. He wished he dared tap into the GPS satellite to help him better recall exactly where in the city it had all happened. But he would have to rely on his memory banks and hope it was good enough.

"We need to verify the location and then search it," he informed the others in the room. "Maybe we'll find some clues as to where the others have gone."

"Dude, Prowl, that's a bad idea," Jazz offered. "Decepticons are going to be swarming that place. Not to mention Prime and the others would be out of their programing to leave any evidence out there of where they are."

"We need to go there," Prowl insisted. "It's the first place we should look."

"And I'm telling you, Prowl, Decepticons are going to be watching out for us there. We need to know where THEY are before we go looking for the others."

"The Decepticons are not going to be there," Prowl continued to insist. "By now they would have searched the whole area. Now they are spreading out to further locations. Or they may have left altogether."

"Then what's the point of going there, Prowl?"

"Maybe they missed something, JAZZ. AND we need to know where we've been before we can map out where we're going."

The two broke out in a simultaneous argument, each talking at the same time and hardly making a lick of sense to the other. They both finished at the same time and then glared at each other.

Crystal busted up laughing.

"Aww... you two are friends, aren't you?" she grinned.

Prowl and Jazz looked at each other guiltily.

"I still say there's no point in searching the site." Jazz insisted.

"Well I think--"

"Okay then!" Crystal announced cheerfully as she picked both of the surprised robots up in her arms. "Let's go have a look-see." She carried Jazz and Prowl over and, with a bit of maneuvering, managed to get the door open. "Bring the map, Grim! We're heading out!"

"Me Grimlock bring map!" Grimlock announced as he turned to robot mode, picked up the map, and ran out the door after them.

* * *

The group of three robots and one human sat quietly on the bus as it jostled through an older part of town with bumpy roads. By now, Prowl had commandeered HIS map from everyone and set about plotting his courses. Jazz, who never could stay on one conviction for too long, even if it was his own, let him. As long as he didn't get slagged, he let Prowl have his way. And Prowl was quite good at not letting his fellow Autobots get slagged so Jazz didn't worry about it. 

Crystal sat between them, Ipod on and keeping an eye on Grimlock who was on Prowl's other side. She insisted the Dinobot leader pick a form and stay in it the entire ride. Right now, he was in his robot mode, legs swinging off the seat. But he was looking restless and Crystal didn't want more attention on them than she already had.

"Hey," Jazz tugged on her arm. "What are you listening to?"

Crystal popped out one of her ear buds and gave it to him. Jazz curiously held it up to his audio, listened a moment, and then frowned.

"This music is.. kind of old," he complained.

"You're old!" Crystal shot back. She made a move to retrieve her ear bud, but Jazz held out his hand, signaling he wanted to continue listening anyway. Crystal let him.

The bus dropped the small group off a few blocks away where Prowl guessed the altercation of the day before took place.

"There's a lot of construction going on over here," Crystal said as she pointed up the street. "That's probably where it happened."

"Then we need to be extremely careful in this area," Prowl said. "Just because it's day time and there are people around doesn't mean the Decepticons are laying low. They don't always care if there are people there to see them."

"In that case, they probably wouldn't notice any humans wandering around the place," Crystal pointed out. "Mini Autobots, however..."

"Point taken," Prowl nodded, consulting his map. "At any rate, we would definitely do better to split up and stay out of sight as much as possible."

"Okay, you guys just want to meet back here around 8 o'clock? Does that sound like a plan?"

"That will be fine," Prowl nodded. "Jazz, I want you to stick with Crystal. Grimlock will come with me." He angled his map towards Jazz's gaze. "We are going to cover this area up here." He pointed to the area opposite of the construction site where he and Jazz had fled. "Since Crystal can probably get closer without being noticed, you two can explore the site directly. Just be careful and watch out for her, Jazz."

Jazz saluted with a grin. "Can do, Cap'n!"

"Me Grimlock looking for other Autobots?" Grimlock asked, not sounding too happy at the chore. "Last time me Grimlock need find Autobots, me Grimlock send her. She find them first." He pointed to Crystal.

Prowl simply nodded. "Yes, but this time we are helping."

"Guesso.." Grimlock relented.

The group split according to Prowl's orders. He and Grimlock disappeared into the back alleys of the city as to not attract any human attention. Jazz and Crystal started up the sidewalk to the construction district. They continued slowly with Crystal scanning ahead and Jazz carefully following in her shadow. There were several sections under construction in this area. All with the same materials piling around and machines parked every which way. They passed site after unfamiliar site without any luck of finding anything of interest. But then, Jazz saw it.

It wasn't hard to forget it. That site with the brick wall and the boxed in building foundation. The skeletal structure jutting out of the ground. It was the perfect place for an ambush. And they had stupidly rushed right into it. Now he was less than three feet high and stranded in an over crowded city with no idea how to contact his missing team mates, his base, or how he was going to get back to his normal size.

Jazz was still frowning at the site as Crystal wandered into it and began to look around. Scorch marks peppered on a brick wall and the scattered rouble; tell tale signs there had been a battle here. It sent a chill up her spine despite the warm, summer air. Maliciousness had gone on in this area; the intent to kill. It still hung heavy here.

"They don't seem to be around here," Jazz spoke.

Crystal didn't seem to hear him. He approached and reached up to grab her hand. Only on contact did the human woman look down at him.

"Come on," Jazz coaxed. "Prowl wants us to look up ahead this way."

He tugged on her hand and Crystal allowed herself to be led away from the battle scene. She gazed with wide eyes at a section of brick building that had been smashed through by a giant robot body colliding with it. But Jazz kept pulling her forward.

They wandered off to further sites and searched soundlessly, each not really sure how would be the best way to go about looking. There was still a strange wind in the air; a feeling of danger. Neither one of them dared even call out a name. And with radio communications out of the question, Jazz was a bit frustrated.

"We're not going to find them," he grumbled, mostly to himself. "This is stupid. They could even be close by, but there's no way we dare let them know--" A heavy shove to his back cut off his sentence and Jazz found himself forced off his feet and flung into a pile of debris in a shadowed alley way.

He was about to let Crystal know he didn't appreciate being treated that way, but then he saw something that made his vocal processor freeze.

Crystal had seen it first and her first reaction was to not save herself, but to shove the little robot with her out of view. A robot. Her inner thoughts laughed at her, not for the first time. She was risking her life for robots. Pieces of machinery. What was wrong with her?

All the same, she had reacted. And now, she was standing out in the open with a giant red, white, and blue Decepticon looming over her. She had no idea how something that size had gotten so close without her noticing. That mistake just may have cost her life. Again, her life for a robot. What was she doing?

So far, it didn't seem that the towering robot had noticed her. Crystal tried to back away slowly, praying she didn't catch its attention. However, with her wide eyes glued on the frightening site, she wasn't watching where she was going and tripped on a pipe. There was a small clang as she gasped soundlessly and stumbled backward, catching herself as quietly as she could.

Crystal landed on her backside, palms painfully catching most of her; breath held in her throat. She hadn't made that much noise. Maybe it still hadn't noticed her.

She glanced up and her blood froze. Two sharp, blood red optics were trained right on her. The darkened face plate was frozen in an emotionless frown. For a moment neither Crystal nor the metal monstrosity moved. Then, the Decepticon raised its arm and Crystal saw a weapon of some sort attached to it, aimed right at her. Her body felt heavy with fear.

_'It's going to shoot me. Oh God, it's going to KILL me!'_

Far more frightening than even the weapon was the look of complete indifference that was on the robot's face. To this behemoth, Crystal was no more than a bug, nothing worth even a first thought, let alone a second one.

She could hear the whine of the weapon powering up, but then the Decepticon's face suddenly shot in another direction as if someone were talking in its ear.

"I'm still out looking," Starscream grated out in a high, irritated voice. "Stop bothering me! I'll report in when I find something."

He ended the radio connection before Megatron could yell at him for being impertinent and turned his attention back to the insect he was about to exterminate. But the human was gone. Starscream glanced down a shadowed alley way bordered half way with a fence. There was a small hole and out the light on the other side he saw the flicker of the human's retreat as it took off around the corner.

As much as a fly that had buzzed off to some place else, Starscream gave the human little mind. He had other things to worry about and he moved off.

* * *

Crystal's heart wouldn't stop pounding. Her small window of redemption came like a godsend and she took it. Grabbing Jazz, she had raced down the alley, forced her way through the fence and out the other side. Now she was running as fast as her feet could take her, wishing she could flee faster. At one point, she had stumbled and dropped Jazz, but she didn't stop for him and kept running. The rumbling sound next to her told her he was keeping up fine on his own in his vehicle mode. 

Crystal ran and ran and ran. Through crowds and deserted places alike. All she could do was run. She ran until her body had nothing else left to propel her and she nearly collapsed on hands and knees outside a small park, panting heavily and wanting to throw up. Her limbs were on fire and trembling, her vision was swimming. She was far away now, but still terrified. She had never felt so afraid-- never been so close to death.

As she panted and shivered, she felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder.

"Hey, you going to be okay?" Jazz asked softly.

Crystal was still breathing too hard to reply. Her mouth was dry and sore from sucking in air. She sat back, leaning against the wall as she tried to swallow, weakly nodding. No matter what she was afraid might have happened, she would be fine as soon as her heart slowed down.

"That robot... was huge," she managed to pant.

"Tell me about it," Jazz said with a lopsided grin. He still kept a concerned hand on her shoulder. "I never thought I'd find old Starscream that menacing. My fuel pump just about stopped. You saved my aft back there by shoving me out of the way. He would have cooked me for sure."

"Cooked us both," Crystal corrected, resting her elbows on her upturned knees. She let out a heavy breath as her respiratory system was slowly going back to normal.

She leaned her head against the wall and let out another breath as she watched the clouds pass by above her. It was good to be alive. She looked over at Jazz.

"If you get back to your normal size, will you be that big?"

Jazz chuckled. "I'm not as tall as Starscream, but I could still take him out."

"I suppose that's all I could ask," Crystal chuckled back weakly.

She held out her hands in front of her face, clenching and unclenching her fingers. They were still trembling.

Jazz's two black hands reached out and sandwiched one of hers in his. "You're shaking," he said pragmatically.

"Adrenaline rush," Crystal informed him. "I'll be fine. Just give me a few minutes."

Jazz nodded and knelt himself next to her, her hand still in his, as he watched her.

Crystal was still getting over her initial shock. It took her a while to realize he was still there watching out for her.

Jazz's obvious concern made her stop and think for a while. Despite how easily she interacted with them, Crystal still had a hard time looking at them as more than machines. As pets at the very least, not people. Certainly not human--not with humanity. Not with feelings such as she had. And yet, despite his single optic band, it did little to hide the obvious emotion this small robot showed on a continuous basis. How did something made of metal and wires feel like she did? How was it alive like she was?

Crystal smiled down at the little Autobot.

"You're very sweet, you know that?" she told him.

"I know it," Jazz grinned back broadly. He stood up and leaned on his knees to look her closely in the face. "What say we go back an' wait for Prowl now? I think we've seen enough for today."

"Yes please," Crystal said gratefully.

She slowly got to her feet. Her legs still felt a bit shaky from all that running, but she tried to hide it and started walking. The two meandered around for a bit as Crystal tried to get her bearings on exactly where she was in the city and which was the best way to get back--preferably a route that didn't involve running into giant Decepticons in empty construction sites.

This time, Crystal stuck with heavily trafficked areas. Jazz could hardly blame her, but it made it quite difficult for a bot his size to keep up with her. The New York populace not only didn't seem to care they had a robot in their midst, they also didn't seem to notice. More than once Jazz nearly lost his human companion in the crowd. Luckily, she was fairly tall and she had a distinct hair color and he would quickly worm his way through to catch up with her again.

But finally, as Jazz feared, he lost her completely. All around him were towering humans; not a single one was familiar. There were so many of them, he couldn't even see where to go or what was around him. Nothing but a shuffling sea of bodies bombarded him every direction he turned. For a moment, panic filled him. If he got lost, what was he supposed to do? How would he ever find his way back again?

"There you are," Crystal announced as she appeared from the crowd.

The look on Jazz's face must have been of complete relief. Crystal reached out and grabbed his hand to keep him with her. "Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you behind, Jazz. We're in this together."

She had said that last line in an odd way. But Jazz was too relieved at being found to notice at the moment. Usually a talker, Jazz uncharacteristically stayed quiet as they made their way to the meeting point. He was out of his element in this giant city with towering building and humans every which way he looked. It was uncomfortable and he was looking forward to getting back to the sanctity of the smaller, enclosed apartment and also, to see his own kind again.

Crystal led them back to the bus stop and the pair waited for Prowl and Grimlock to show up. Hopefully, with much better findings than they had. There was a small park near by where Crystal leaned her elbows against the rail and looked over at the green grass and the small, murky pond where a few ducks were floating about. Jazz didn't enjoy the same scene; hardly able to see above the tall weeds growing up the metal rail. And he didn't care. His biggest concern was making sure he was next to Crystal at all times. More than anything else, he was dead set on the idea that she was going to take him home with her. Primus himself couldn't make him stay alone in this city over night. It was all he could do to not simply grab onto her shin and hold there until she carried him to the bus. Instead, he would have to settle for leaning against the rail and watching her hair blow in the wind.

Hair was an odd thing for Jazz. Being a robot, he didn't see the point though humans and all Earth mammals had it. Then again, he never got a close look at it before. This Earth woman had extremely long hair that fell past her waist. It was an odd pale rusty color and was thin and light and waved almost hypnotically in the breeze. Jazz didn't even realize he was reaching out to grab it until she said something to him.

"Hey Jazzy," Crystal spoke up. "Do you ever have dreams?"

Jazz immediately pulled his hand back, hoping she didn't notice.

"Nope. I don't sleep, remember?"

"Do you know what they are?"

Jazz shrugged. "Kind of. You see things with your eyes closed, like replaying data in your head or something. It kinda freaks me out."

Crystal laughed. "It's not something freaky, I promise." She returned her gaze back to the pond.

"Why'd you ask?" Jazz then said.

"Oh," Crystal responded as she was reminded of it. "I just had a dream last night. It was about my mom. It just reminded me of something she used to tell me whenever... odd changes came up in our lives."

Crystal looked down at the robot stretching his neck to look up at her. As an after thought, she reached down and picked him up to sit on the railing so they were almost eye to eye. Jazz finally got his view of the pond while Crystal settled back into her memories.

"We used to move around a lot when I was a kid," Crystal continued. "I hated it. But my mother never had a problem with it. She had this weird faith in fate. She always told me things happened for a reason. That nothing in this world was coincidental.

"When I was little, I believed her without question. But now..." she sighed a little. "It seems like such an exhausting way to live, to constantly have faith in powers you cannot see. Knowing that everything that's coming will happen whether you want them to or not. That's there's nothing you can do about it. It seems a bit frightening unless you believe it's all meant to turn out for the best in the end. And that, I'm not sure I believe in either.

"But to also think to believe that there is no greater purpose out there is even less disconcerting. To think we are all coincidentally here and that nothing is in store for us seems like a big joke. So I'm left with my first option that fate has something planned for us all. But if that's true then..." She looked over at Jazz. "It means that millions of years ago, you were shot out of space and you were meant to land here, sleep here. And you were meant to wake up in this time some twenty years ago. And yesterday, your Decepticon leader was meant to have a gun that shrinks Autobots and I was destined to find you. What do you think of that?"

Jazz just gave her a blank look and shrugged. Philosophical thinking like that made a throbbing in his logic circuits.

"Couldn't really tell you," he admitted. "In all honesty, we don't really think about that much. Fate is a human idea. Your lives are so short and ours can go on forever. For those of us who have lived millions of years already, fate seems very... irrelevant."

Crystal looked thoughtfully at the pond. "I suppose that could be true in your case. But I'm going to do a little experiment. Your friends are now on a time limit, Four. We will see if I can find them all before I am able to leave this city I will accept that fate is trying to tell me something. And if not, well... maybe not everything in the world is directed by fate. Maybe there are some coincidences out there as well."

Jazz looked at her oddly for a moment, not really understanding it all. He was about to ask her about it when Crystal turned her attention from him as she pulled her cell phone from her pocket to check the time.

"It's getting late. They should have been here by now," she said worriedly. "I wish there was some way to call them or something. I hope they didn't get lost."

"Nah, Prowl's got his map. He never gets lost," Jazz assured her. "Let me see that." He held out his hand for the cell phone to which Crystal complied.

Jazz looked the small appliance over from every angle. Then he got still as if deep in thought. Crystal was wondering what he was doing, but then Jazz came to life again and handed her back the phone.

"Here you go," he said as if he had just given her a brand new gift.

Crystal was about to ask what he was doing when her phone rang, singing a part of "Take On Me" before she flipped it open and answered it.

"Hello?"

"How's that sound?" Jazz said as his voice echoed over her cell phone.

"Wicked!" Crystal exclaimed in approval. "So you can call me on my cell phone now?"

"Yup," Jazz beamed. "It only works one way, but if we get separated, I can always get in contact with you."

"That's fantastic!" She grinned over at him. "You're amazing."

Once more, Jazz beamed. "I know it," he confirmed yet again.

Something lightly grabbed and tugged on Crystal's hand and she looked down.

"Prowl, Grim! Oh, you guys are okay!" She looked happy to see them, then her face fell at Prowl's dour expression. "No luck, huh?"

"No sign," Prowl replied. Even his usual stoic voice seemed to betray an undertone of disappointment. "If the others have completely fled this area, I don't know where we would look for them."

"Well," Crystal responded, trying to sound positive. "We'll just look somewhere else tomorrow and hope we find them. Maybe we can--"

She was cut off as Prowl got a stern look on his face and grabbed her hand, pulling her down to his level. When the two were almost eye to eye, Prowl went to her arm and frowned at the scratches he saw there. Crystal hadn't even noticed them. She must have gotten them when she scrambled through the fence to escape from Starscream. They weren't bad, but still deep enough to have dried blood gathered where the skin was broken.

Prowl gave an unapproving glare to Jazz who slumped guiltily.

Crystal gave Prowl a pat on the head. "Don't worry about it, it's fine. I just want to go home."

Jazz jumped off the rail and followed as Crystal walked towards the bus stop.

"We'll have a talk later," Prowl informed him quietly.

Grimlock ran in front of Crystal and then turned into his dinosaur mode. "Me Grimlock sick of walking. Carry me," he ordered her.

Crystal scooped him up without a thought even before Jazz or Prowl could get after him for treating her that way. The timing was perfect and the bus pulled up right then. Crystal tromped into the bus and sat down with Grimlock in her lap. Jazz and Prowl climbed onto the seat next to her and the bus was off again.

"Ugh, I am so hungry. I can't wait to get back home," Crystal complained. She glanced over at the two Autobot officers. "Are you sure I can't fix you guys something to eat?"

Jazz grinned crookedly at her. "You could, but we wouldn't be able to do anything with it."

Crystal sighed as she rested her chin on the top of Grimlock's head. "Another dinner for one, then."

* * *

Late that night, Crystal stumbled out of the bathroom, heading back to bed. She noticed the faint light and slight noise coming from the living room. Jazz was, no doubt, spending another night systematically taking out her movie collection one by one. 

As she reached her bedroom door, Crystal noticed two glowing blue eyes about knee height in the door way. Prowl's pale silhouette could also be seen as she approached; clutching a book to his chest. He looked up at her in a way that reminded her of a cat she had as a child who would sit there when you opened the door and looked at you expectantly as you tried to figure out what it wanted.

"How about it, Shorty?" she said to him. "You want in or out?"

Prowl glanced at the dark bedroom within and then decided to go in himself. Crystal followed, closing the door behind her and flopping tiredly back in bed. She didn't even want to know what time it was.

As she settled in, she could feel Prowl's lighter form crawling up on the bed and sitting on her pillow, back against the wall. Crystal rolled over to rest her forehead against his leg.

"What are you reading?" she asked as she pulled the covers closer around her.

"Alice in Wonderland," came the calm response.

"Really?" Crystal asked, opening one eye to look to see if he was joking. It hardly seemed like the preferred selection for a serious robot.

"I've read everything else," Prowl informed her.

"I see."

"This is the second time I'm reading this," Prowl continued. "I don't get it."

"Really," Crystal wondered. "Though I suppose you could relate to it a bit. You are kind of down a rabbit hole right now, aren't you?"

Prowl quietly thought about it.

Crystal snuggled up closer to him. "Read it to me."

Prowl looked at the top of her head dubiously and then opened the book, starting from the beginning.

"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?' "

Crystal settled into a quiet breathing rhythm as the calm, lulling voice made her drift off. Idly, her last thoughts were of the robots in her home. She was having a harder time thinking of them as robots as she got to know them. Though made of metal, they acted human and their skin was warm, almost alive to the touch. She wanted to protect them. She wasn't sure why, but she had an undeniable urge to get them back to their home. Maybe they were destined to meet after all.

Prowl stopped reading out loud when his sensors told him the human body had slipped into its sleep mode. In the darkness, he watched her shoulders slowly rise and fall. He had always respected the human species, but never let himself get involved with them like some of his fellow Autobots had. He liked living by boundaries and right now, it felt like he had crossed them and there was nothing he could do about it.

Unfortunately, Jazz had been right and in their current predicament, they needed this human's help. But Prowl was determined to keep her out of their fight as much as possible. And when it was all over, they would sever the ties. This girl didn't need the danger in her life and Prowl wasn't willing to risk it just for him.

* * *

It was the middle of the night, but Ratchet hardly noticed. It had been two days–almost a whole forty-eight hours– since he had heard from Optimus Prime or any of the Autobots that had gone with him to New York City. 

It worried Ratchet.

According to Teletran One, the Decepticon activity was still high in New York. Why were they still there? It was far from their base. Had the Autobots lost? What had happened to them? If they had lost, they why hadn't Megatron done anything else but hide away in that city? And if the Autobots were still active, then where were they and why weren't any of them reporting in?

Ratchet wasn't sure what was worse, not knowing what was going on or being completely helpless to do anything about it. He should have gone. Prowl would have been better to run the base. He wouldn't have gotten this antsy being left alone. He would have handled it better. And Ratchet would have done better out on the field helping them with... whatever it was that had happened to them.

But it couldn't be helped now. Ratch had to deal with the card given to him and try to get his fellow Autobots back to the base so he could organize a second party to go after the first one. That, in itself, was a chore.

Autobots were scattered all about the globe due to world-wide Decepticon activity. To which the Decepticons, most of which were high powered jets, could travel about the planet faster than the land based Autobots. All they had at the moment was Jetfire–who had been shot down and was still waiting for rescue himself. Cosmos was in space, as was Powerglide with him. And the entire team of Arielbots had been transferred to Cybertron. Now, in hindsight, a horribly thought out move on their part.

But once again, there was nothing Ratchet could do about that now. The only thing he could do was wait for all the radioed parties to slowly drive back to base.

At that thought, Ratchet was pleasantly surprised to hear the doors to the control room hiss open and heavy metallic feet stomp in.

Flooded with relief at the early arrival, Ratchet turned around with elation. His face dropped just as quickly when he saw who was standing there.

"Oh," he said flatly. "It's just you."

Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading so far and thanks also for the comments. I'm sorry I can't get to them all or I don't have anything to say in response, but they are much appreciated so thanks everyone for feeling this fic was worth your time to read and comment on. I'm having a lot of fun with it. See you in part 3.


	3. Day 3: What Blaster Did

Thanks everyone for waiting so patiently and also for the comments! I really appreciate the support and look forward to hearing what you think about this one. I hope it was worth the wait.

Small Problems

Part 3: What Blaster Did

By: Ghost of the Dawn

"Yes!" Slag announced with gusto as he stomped in, trailed by the three other Dinobots. "It us!"

"We come looking for leader Grimlock," Snarl explained. "We no see him for long time."

"Grimlock is in New York," Ratchet informed them curtly, turning back to his instruments. "He went there on a mission with Optimus Prime."

The Dinobots looked crestfallen.

"What?" Ratchet asked, glancing over his shoulder at them.

"Dinobots play Hide and Seek," Swoop told him. "Grimlock it. Supposed to find Dinobots. But Grimlock forget and leave us. We hide for two days."

"Really?" Ratchet demanded, wondering how they didn't have the brains to get up after twenty minutes.

"This him second time he do this," Sludge said sadly.

"Where Grimlock?" Slag demanded, angry at the disappointment of his fellow Dinobots. "Where New York? Me Slag go there and stomp stupid leader for forgetting Dinobots!"

"It's clear across the country, Slag," Ratchet said tiredly. "It will take you more than a week to walk over there."

"When Grimlock come back?" Sludge answered innocently, no malice in his voice.

"I don't know," Ratchet admitted. "We've lost radio contact with them for two days now."

"Maybe Grimlock turn to hide now?" Sludge suggested.

"Not him turn!" Slag barked, punching the wall. "Him no play any more! Dinobots play without Grimlock now!"

"That's fine with me," Ratchet said as he looked at Teletran's screens. "Just don't do it anywhere around here."

It was then that the doors opened for a second time.

Three more sets of feet came in-- one in particular more energetic than the other two.

"Ratchet!" Sideswipe greeted as he paraded in, arms wide in greeting. "¡Hemos vuelto de la Argentina!"

Ratchet leveled a gaze at him that told fading tolerance. "You were supposed to be back from Argentina yesterday."

"We would have if Sideswipe hadn't wanted to soak up some local atmosphere," Brawn glared at him.

"They wanted us to stay," Bluestreak tried to help. "They insisted on throwing us a party for saving their town. It would have been rude to just leave."

"Miramos un juego del fútbol," Sideswipe explained. "Did you know they call it football everywhere else but THIS country?"

"I don't care, Sideswipe," Ratchet sighed.

"¡Tenían las muchachas más hermosas y bailamos hasta anochecer!" Sideswipe continued wistfully. "I want to learn to Samba Dance."

"Slag, what Sideswipe say?" Sludge asked. "Him broken?"

Slag scratched his head. "Me not know. Good thing Ratchet here to fix him."

"Stuff it, Sideswipe," Brawn grouched, pushing past the much taller Autobot. His tone told he had had enough of Samba _and_ of Sideswipe to last him a while. "So what's the big emergency, Ratchet? Why is it so quiet around here? And why are you running everything?"

"Prime put me in charge," Ratchet told him. "We had heavy Decepticon movement on the East Coast and Prime took Skyfire and everyone that was available at the base. A few hours later, Prime reported Skyfire down and the rest of them were driving into New York City. That was two days ago and that was the last we heard from anyone."

"Prowl went with them?" Bluestreak asked in a small, worried voice.

"Prowl, Jazz, Wheeljack, Ironhide, and Grimlock. They've all gone missing along with Optimus Prime. And I haven't been able to send anyone after them."

"Until now, is it?" Brawn frowned. He glanced over at Sideswipe and Bluestreak. After spending almost a two week mission with them, he was getting tired of seeing their faces. "Just send me, Ratchet, I'll take care if it."

Ratchet looked dubious at the request. "I don't think that's going to work out. We need more Bots than that to go. One at least to get Skyfire and bring him back here and the others to check out the city."

"I can do it all, no sweat," Brawn insisted. "Just give me a break from the crackerjack crew." He threw his thumb at Bluestreak and Sideswipe. "Or even better, why don't you go, Ratchet? You could fix Skyfire on the spot. Give me your job. There's no one else here. ANY idiot could be able to do what you're doing. I bet it's easy."

Ratchet's face darkened and he frowned.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Brawn found himself on the freeway heading East and pulling a large, white trailer. Sideswipe and Bluestreak's bumpers were in front of him and he was not enjoying the view.

"Man, you really got under Ratchet's gears good, Brawn," Bluestreak commented. "He must really be stressed out."

"Yeah," Sideswipe put in. "Even I know to keep my mouth shut when he's in that mood. Solamente un tonto empujará un toro enojado."

They went over a bump and there was audible thumping going on in the trailer. "Did he have to send the Dinobots with us?" Brawn grouched as they continued. "They're going to slow us down more than anything else."

"Oh, come on Brawn, lighten up!" Sideswipe urged as he revved his engine. "It's another adventure! This will be fun!"

* * *

Crystal was awaken by the shrill cry of the window blinds as they were sharply pulled up, allowing sunlight to spill over her face. She groaned and rolled over.

"Hey!" Grimlock's voice barked at her. "It time to get up! Me Grimlock bored!"

"No..." Crystal's voice groaned into her pillow. "It's not time yet.."

The chirping of her alarm clock begged to differ and Crystal groaned again. Without removing her face from her pillow, she groped at the floor, searching for it. A white hand beat her to it as Prowl nimbly turned it off. Crystal cracked an eye at him and then rolled over to see Grimlock perched on her window sill.

"Jazz want to watch Jersey Girl," Grimlock told her. "If me Grimlock see 'nother Ben Affleck movie, me Grimlock blow chunks. Get up so me Grimlock can go outside!"

With that, the Dinobot jumped off the window. Crystal made an "umph!" noise when he landed on her mid section before rebounding off to hit the floor and run out of the room. Crystal lurched vengefully after him, but got tangled in the blankets and only succeeded in falling off the bed face first.

"Are you okay?" Prowl asked, hovering over her.

Crystal grimaced again and then looked up at Prowl. "I don't have THAT many Ben Affleck movies!" she informed him.

In the kitchen, evidence that Prowl had finished his book and moved on to something else was on the table. The map had covered it and red marks were scattered about where they had already searched. A notebook was filled with scribbles on possibilities and places to look. It made Crystal feel bad for them. They had been working so hard and worrying about their missing friends and had not found a thing. She really hoped things would look better for them today. She even considered calling in sick for work to help them. However, she hadn't been working there that long and though it would look bad. And most likely, they would do a better job than she anyway.

As usual, Prowl was following her around the kitchen and living area while Jazz slumped on the couch, watching his movie. Crystal pulled a key from a drawer and crouched down to Prowl's level.

"This is a key to my apartment. You should be able to find your way around the city now, right?" she waved the key in front of him.

Prowl took it with confidence. "Affirmative. There's no need to worry, I've plotted out everything. We'll be able to find our way back."

"Good," Crystal nodded, satisfied. She stood and went to open the door while Prowl gathered his map and his notes.

Grimlock happily threw himself outside the second the door was open. Jazz slowly turned off his beloved tv and tromped after him, slouching slightly. He had a feeling Prowl had a lot of work planned for them that day and he was not looking forward to it. Crystal playfully pushed his helmet as if ruffling the hair of a child. Jazz brushed her hand away, but seemed to be in higher spirits.

"Wish us luck," he grinned.

Crystal gave him a thumbs up. "You got it. And be careful out there."

Prowl was the last one through the door.

"Good luck down the rabbit hole, Alice," Crystal told him.

Prowl opened his mouth to argue the new name, but Crystal had already closed the door in his face.

* * *

"Okay, that's it, I've got to pull over," Brawn radioed to his companions.

They had been driving for about six hours and were now going through a mountain range headed south from Idaho into Utah. Brawn pulled off from the freeway and turned down a dirt mountain road to be away from the mainstream traffic. Sideswipe and Bluestreak followed him, taking a bit more care down the bumpy dirt road.

Once within the safety of the trees, Brawn unhitched himself from the trailer and transformed, stalking to the back of it and flinging the doors open.

"Will you lummoxes knock it off?!" he bellowed into the trailer. "Just sit still! I can't haul a trailer that's banging all over the road!"

Four metal dinosaurs looked at him.

"When we Dinobots get there?" Slag, the triceratops, demanded. "It small in here."

"Too small for Dinobots," Snarl, the stegosaurus agreed. "We in here long time."

"Want out," Sludge, the brontosaurus announced and stomped out of the trailer.

Brawn was quick to grab his tail and despite the mini bot's size, was able to halt Sludge in his tracks with his strength.

"Where do you think you're going?" Brawn demanded, "We're not even half way there yet!"

A metal Pteranodon flew out. "Swoop free! Swoop free!"

That was the sign for all the Dinobots to stampede over Brawn and into the forest.

"Hey! Get back here!"

At this time, Bluestreak and Sideswipe transformed into their robot modes and peeked into the trailer. There were Dinobot dents peppered all over the interior.

"It's like taking human children on a car trip," Sideswipe speculated.

Bluestreak went to help Brawn up. "Maybe you should let them run around for a bit. Then they won't be as restless when we get them back in the trailer."

Brawn sighed as he sat on a large rock. "If we have to do this every couple of hours, this will take forever."

* * *

The day passed on. It went slow for the three mini Autobots. Even though Prowl kept them plowing ahead, the task was daunting. They were very little robots in a very big world; only being able to cover a fraction of what they could have done if they were their real size. Even worse, they didn't dare use any of their locating equipment for fear of being located themselves by the Decepticons. The more they looked, the more hopeless it seemed.

"Prowl," Jazz said to him sometime during the day. "What are we going to do if we don't find Prime and the others soon? We HAVE to let the base know what happened to us at some point. We can't hang around here looking forever."

The frown on Prowl's face plate etched itself deeper. "You are right. We are running out of time. We need to let the base know what is going on. And to warn them of the weapon Megatron has."

Jazz could hear it in Prowl's voice. He was not looking forward to returning to the other Autobots in his current condition without their leader. It was just one failure after another.

"If we don't find them soon, we're going to have to figure out how we're going to contact the others and get home."

Jazz looked thoughtful. He recalled Crystal saying something to him the day previous. That she was waiting on a certain time frame and then she would take them home. He would have to ask her about that when he got back to the apartment.

Although the day felt slow, it was dark before they knew it. They had covered miles and miles around the city, circling the original site in wider arcs until it felt like they had searched all their was to search. But every time one of them felt that way, all they had to do was look behind them to the miles of unsearched city still stretching out around them.

An entire day of looking brought forth nothing to them. Prowl's map was littered with red marks and they were all exhausted. Slowly, they made their way back to the apartment, spirits down and Grimlock grumbling every step. Even though they were looking forward to being back to the apartment, they didn't enjoy the feeling of coming back empty handed.

When approaching the stairwell, the three Autobots found a group of teenagers hanging out in it and Prowl thought it best they not be seen. He led them back out to the balcony and Jazz threw up the rope he kept in his arm compartment. The light was on inside and they could see Crystal dancing in the kitchen through the glass door. Prowl knocked on the glass, hoping she could hear from above the music she was playing. The key she gave him only opened the front door, not the balcony.

Sure enough, Crystal, in her shorts and T-Shirt, turned from cleaning the kitchen to glide over and unlock the balcony.

"Hey guys!" she sang. Then she swept up Grimlock as her song kicked into the chorus.

"Cecilia, you're breaking my heart. You're shaking my confidence daily. Oh, Cecilia, I'm down on my knees, I'm begging you please to come home. Oh, oh, oh." She sang as she spun him around.

"Me Grimlock not Cecilia!" he complained. "Me Grimlock!"

Crystal laughed but then put him down when she saw the expressions on Jazz and Prowl. "Tough day guys?"

"Tell me about it," Jazz said as he climbed up on the couch and slumped there dejectedly. "We didn't find a slaggin' thing."

Crystal leaned over the arm of the couch so she was almost eye to eye with him. "Maybe you just need a little more luck is all," she smiled secretively.

Jazz frowned at her. For once, he wasn't willing to reflect her good mood. She didn't understand. She treated this thing like it was a game; just because they were little. She didn't understand that all their lives were in danger; that this was serious.

There was a thump from the small space in the kitchen where the washer and dryer were stored. Then, a robot just their size came around the kitchen counter and into the living room. The others just stared.

"Hey Crystal, I was only able to find this screw driver and these pliers. You got anything else?" asked the robot, lights on his head flashing with every word.

"Sorry," Crystal replied, though she was still smiling. "That's probably all I have."

"Wheeljack!"

The inventor looked up. "Oh, hey guys."

Jazz launched himself off the couch and tackled the inventor.

"Wheeljack, man! Where have you been?"

"Would you believe a fifth floor apartment overlooking Central Park?"

Prowl looked at Wheeljack and then up at Crystal.

"H... how?"

"Me tell you!" Grimlock jumped in. "You never listed to me Grimlock! Her can find missing Autobots!" He pointed an indignant finger at Crystal and the others all stared at her.

"What?" Crystal insisted. "It was coincidence. I just felt like going home through Central Park and I happened to notice these kids were playing with these weird high-tech toys. So I asked one of them where they got it from and she said she had a little robot that made them for her."

"So you've been hanging with some little kids?" Jazz asked. "How was that?"

"Sticky," Wheeljack instantly responded. "I had no idea how messy pre pubescent humans were until I got a hands on experience from it."

"I felt guilty for taking you home, though," Crystal told Wheeljack. "They looked sad to see you go."

"They'll survive," Wheeljack waved it off. "I left them plenty of things to play with. We have more important things to do, don't we?"

Prowl nodded.

"This first thing I'm going to try to do is fix Blaster so he can talk to us. He may be the key to helping us locate the other Autobots. And if he can transform, he'll be a big help to us-- no pun intended."

"Then you can fix my dryer!" Crystal chimed in.

"Sweet!" Jazz grinned. "Things are finally looking up! We'll find Prime and Ironhide in no time!"

"Oh!" Crystal announced as she just remembered something and pulled a stack off the table and presented it to Prowl.

"Wheeljack went to the library with me and we got you more books since you've already read all of mine."

Prowl looked dubiously at the stack and then at Wheeljack.

"I just helped her carry them," he insisted.

"Thanks..." Prowl said as Crystal set them by his feet and picked one out of the pile.

"Read this first," she sais as she held up a copy of _Catch 22._ "I think you'll like it. I got some for you, too, Grimlock." Crystal took the thinner, larger books off the top of the pile and presented the children's picture books to the Dinobot leader. "Dinosaurs, see?" She opened one to a picture of a Tyrannosaurus Rex on it. "Look, it's you!"

Grimlock made a grunt of intrigue and took the books from her, curiously flipping through the pages.

"What about me?" Jazz asked eagerly, hands out. "Give me something to do!"

Crystal took a moment to think.

"Hm...oh! I know!" She ran off into her room and came back a while later, sitting herself cross legged in the middle of the living room.

"Sit here, Jazz. I'm going to tell you your future."

"For real?" Jazz sat across from her, staring at the deck of cards she had in her hands.

"Tarot cards?" Wheeljack said, looking up from where he was fiddling with Blaster's internal wiring. "That's just nonsense. No one can read a person's future--especially not with cards. It's impossible."

"Oh, a realist?" Crystal observed.

"I'm a_ scientist._ There's no physical evidence to prove those things work."

"It's just for fun, anyways," Crystal defended. She asked Jazz to shuffle the cards and then arranged ten of them face down in a curious pattern. Then she pointed to the card in the middle.

"Okay, this one is the Jazz card. It represents you as a whole; how you are right now."

Crystal flipped the card over to reveal the Fool card right side up.

"Hey!" Jazz protested.

"Wow, this IS pretty accurate," Wheeljack said. Thought he didn't believe in it, he had moved closer with Blaster so he could see the card reading.

"No, no, no," Crystal insisted. "The Fool card means change or the beginning of something. So Jazz, this means you adapt easily when different things come your way. You also enjoy being spontaneous and having surprises played upon you and you roll easily with the punches when they come your way."

"Cool!" Jazz praised. "This is pretty neat! Do another one."

"Okay," Crystal grinned grabbing the next card on the spread. "This card represents what's going on in your life right now. And it looks like we have the Death card. This one means there have been abrupt changes in your life as of very recently."

"You could say that!" Jazz laughed.

"Yeah, doesn't quite take a deck of cards to see that," Wheeljack muttered, not impressed.

Crystal ignored him. "These changes aren't necessarily bad. Especially in light of the Fool card we already drew. With this change, just like any you've had, you'll adapt easily and keep on going without letting it slow you down.

"Now this card represents your distant past." She flipped over the card to reveal the Magician with the picture upside down. "With this picture like it is, this means there was a time in your past, Jazz, where you were unsure of what you were doing in your life. You were just floating around, unable to decide what to do with yourself. And I feel this is another aspect of your personality; you've never been good at making decisions for yourself. You prefer to let the people and events around you control what you do instead of working to build your own path in life."

Jazz didn't say anything that time and Crystal turned over the next card.

"This one is your more recent past: the Temperance card." She paused to think about the meaning. "I would suspect this indicates that you are currently content with where you are. Though you've wandered for a long time, you eventually found what you believe to be your niche in life. You have surrounded yourself with those you work well with and who bring out the best qualities in you and you, them."

By then, Jazz was dead quiet and his visor was completely glued to the spread and he was listening to every word. His silence betrayed that Crystal was not entirely incorrect with her reading thus far.

"And your best outcome for the problems in your life right now is..." she turned over the Three of Cups. "Oh this one definitely means a positive ending and also, it means something new will come of it. Maybe you'll get a new perspective from your experience or new friendships."

She winked at Jazz who shared with her a silly grin. Wheeljack, who had been watching, shook his head and went back to work fixing Blaster.

"Next comes your immediate future; something that is probably going to happen to you within the next few days." She turned over the Five of Wands. "Well Jazz, it looks like things aren't going to get easier from here."

"What's that mean?" Jazz asked. "You just said in the last card everything would be okay. That should mean we'll be able to get back home and go back to normal, right?"

"Yes, but that's not all. Everything has the potential to turn out okay, but that doesn't mean there won't be a few obstacles in the way of your goal. What this is, is just a reminder that you still need to work hard and don't slack off if you want everything to go as planned."

"Hey Prowl!" Jazz called. "Come see this! I think Crystal just channeled you through these things."

Prowl just grumbled something from his place at the table among his maps and didn't look up.

"Be nice to Prowl," Crystal informed him. "We're not done yet over here. We've still got four more cards. This one– The Judgement Card--the is how you see yourself. It's upside down Jazz. It seems you may not think of yourself too highly."

Jazz slumped his shoulders at this.

"Don't worry about it. We are always our biggest critics, right? Basically what this is saying is that you sometimes feel like you aren't going anywhere. And you feel guilty that, from your perspective, you don't have anything worth while to bring to your circle of friends who, in your opinion, are all more capable than you are."

"However," Crystal said as she turned the next card, revealing the Knight of Wands. "Others find you to be very energetic and confident. Those who meet you usually find you likable, if not a bit odd. But they are usually willing to stick around until they figure you out."

Jazz threw another glance in Prowl's direction, this one a bit curious. Prowl was still making a valiant effort in pretending he wasn't listening to what was going on.

"This second to last one tells us about your hopes and fears as far as the future is concerned." Crystal turned over the Star card and she couldn't help but smile at it.

"Well, it seems despite any personal doubt, you may have, you stay very positive about the future. You hope for nothing but good things for those you care about and are willing to work hard for them. And your final outcome is..."

She flipped over the last card, revealing the Wheel of Fortune card.

"Wow, you're pretty much ruler of the universe, Jazz."

"Yes!"

"No matter what you decide to do with yourself, it appears everything is aligned cosmically to help you out and always leave you on top."

An ear-splitting squeal from the boombox ripped through the room. Crystal painfully covered her ears while the Autobots winced at the sound. Right after the scream, Blaster's voice boomed at them going a hundred miles a minute.

"Finally! It's about fragging time you guys helped me! How dare you leave me on the counter all day! I was going out of my mind! Slag! What's wrong with all of you?! How can you just forget me? Just because I can't say anything doesn't me you can--"

"Sorry everyone," Wheeljack said when he turned off Blaster's tirade. "I should have left him that way. Now Blaster, I'm not going to turn on your vocal processor again until you can calm down, alright?"

He turned it on and for a moment, the radio was quiet.

"I hate you guys," Blaster said.

"Well we're just glad to see you're still fully functioning in there," Jazz laughed. "Sorry we forgot you, man. It's been crazy around here."

"I guess," Blaster grumbled. "So how about getting me to transform, Wheeljack?"

"Sorry Blaster, your transforming cog is melted solid. I'd need the equipment back at the base to fix that.

"Frag it."

"Blaster," Prowl said as he came over. "Are you able to emit any kind of signal to the base that won't be noticed by the Decepticons?"

"No can do Prowl. Not while they've got Soundwave constantly combing every channel for a single peep from us. I can almost feel him daring me to send one microbit of information."

"Then we need to go to the base ourselves," Prowl announced. "We've been wasting valuable time here. No one knows what happened to us, nor do they know about that weapon Megatron has. Right now it only shrinks things. But if he can fix it to what it could originally do..."

"I don't think that will be a problem, Prowl," Blaster said.

Prowl paused. "Why not?"

* * *

Megatron was in a foul mood. It was worse than it had been the day before when his mood was merely testy. Now it was nearing a venomous boil. From the beginning, nothing had worked. From his glorious ultimate weapon, to losing every Autobot, to now where his troops were stagnating in failure and restlessness.

The Autobots had continued to elude them. One would have thought that their new size would make them easy prey. But the Decepticons soon found out that the minuscule size actually helped to hide them in the bustling city. And the longer it took, the colder their trail went. Certain members of his troops, mainly Starscream, were getting aggravated and were demanded some course of action.

Megatron was refusing to leave. Optimus Prime was still in this city, he could feel it in every tube and microchip in his body. The Autobots were scattered throughout the city. Optimus was not going to leave them behind. His best trackers were now hunting the Autobot leader exclusively. Every once in a while the trail would pick up and then disappear again. But Megatron would not give up. He would continue to hunt him mercilessly. Optimus Prime had to be getting tired by now.

In truth, hunting the Autobot leader in secret was all Megatron could do. If he made his presence known, more Autobots would respond far faster and from all over the world. Not to mention the United States military would be on his back as well. And the reality was the Decepticons just didn't have the energy to fend them all off. Which was why they had gone this route--trying to systematically take out small groups of Autobots one by one.

Which was the reason Megatron was stalking down this particular tunnel. He hated giving up the hunt for Optimus Prime, but they may just have to move forward with their plan and hit the next group. It was true, minuscule Autobots were still better than full sized ones. All he needed was for Soundwave to repair his weapon--whether it shrank Autobots or drained their sparks--he would take either at this point.

At the end of the tunnel was Soundwave's make-shift work shop. It was the space he was supposed to be using to repair his weapon. Instead, he currently had Frenzy laying on a table while he meticulously fixed the wiring in the tiny cassette's back.

"Hurry up, Soundwave," Rumble nagged as he wandered impatiently around the table. "Fix Frenzy's fragile girly parts so we can get back out there."

Frenzy, who had one arm stuck in pile driver mode, swung at his twin with his good arm. "Shut up Rumble! I'll kick your slaggin' can!"

"Ha! In your dreams! Let me see you do it!"

Frenzy growled as he scrambled to his feet for a fight.

Soundwave, with the patience and precise discipline of a mother lion, effectively pinned Frenzy down with one hand while giving Rumble a good swat upside his head to get him out of the way with the other.

Megatron waited as Soundwave finished his task. Once done, Frenzy sat up and was able to transforms his pile-driver back to his arm. Without so much as a thankful glance, he ran off with Rumble close behind.

"What is your command, Megatron?" Soundwave garbled as soon as his task was done.

Megatron glanced over to see the large cannon Soundwave invented was sitting against the wall. He picked up the weapon and stroked its silver surface.

"Soundwave, I'm assuming since you've found time for menial repair duty then you have finished repairing my cannon?"

Soundwave paused. Megatron could send him searching his data banks for an answer. It was odd that it took him so long to process the question.

"Negative. No weapons have been repaired."

Megatron frowned as he gripped the weapon. "You mean my magnificent death beam is still just a–"

Starscream strolled casually by the doorway just in time to hear his leader call out "Shink ray?!" and the seeker screamed shrilly as it was fired at him.

Starscream stumbled back from the blast brushing off the blue light it emitted, fully expecting some sort of reaction. But nothing happened.

"Arg! Now it's just useless!" Megatron barked, slamming a fist into the wall.

"How DARE you point that thing at me, Megatron!" Starscream shrieked.

He was ignored.

"Soundwave! Get to work repairing this thing immediately! I want it in proper working order by sun up tomorrow! Do you understand me?!"

"As you command, Megatron," Soundwave nodded. He turned towards the table to begin his task; paused, and then turned back to acknowledge his leader as if he had just seen him enter for the first time.

"What is your command, Megatron?"

Megatron stood in complete bafflement and then he clenched his shaking fists in rage when he realized what was going on.

* * *

"You erased his files?" Prowl asked. "That time during the fight–"

Blaster's laughter rang through the living room. "I erased them good! I downloaded the plans for the weapon and then deleted every bit of memory 'Ol Soundwave had relating to it. With any luck, that thing is so damaged, no one will be able to repair it."

"Great job, B!" Jazz slapped the boombox on the back.

Blaster promptly fell forward on his speakers with a "Hey!"

"Whoops! Sorry man."

"Well done, Blaster," Prowl said. "It definitely buys us some time. It's probably the reason the Decepticons haven't moved on. We're certainly no threat to them as we are now. But if they don't have a working weapon, Megatron's plans are at a standstill."

"Then that gives us time to find Prime and Ironhide," Jazz put in.

"It also means the Decepticons aren't doing anything else right now but looking for us," Prowl said.

That statement sobered them up a bit.

"Pessimist," Crystal accused playfully as she knocked Prowl's shoulder with her fist.

"Hey, if we're watching movies again tonight, can you at least point me towards the TV this time?" Blaster asked.

"I want to watch a movie with you guys," Crystal announced. "Let's put one in."

As she flipped through her collection with Jazz's instructions on to what he had already seen, Wheeljack looks skeptic.

"So, we're just going to settle in for the night just like that now?" he asked.

"Yeah," Blaster confirmed. "It seems to have become the routine. I'm just glad I'm finally a part of it." He then muttered something bitter to himself and Wheeljack shrugged. At least he wasn't forced to recite Dr. Seuss to children tonight. It was a step up for him.

So Crystal spent the night eating popcorn she couldn't share among her ever growing group of miniature robots. The movie they watched was full of explosions, danger, and true love. All things that made life exciting. Which was probably why Grimlock put down his dinosaur books and climbed up onto the couch, squeezing his tyrannosaur form between Crystal's thigh and the arm rest. He rested on his stomach with just his head poking out like a skulking lizard.

Wheeljack threw Grimlock a curious sideward glance. When Grimlock was his normal size, he stomped around and fussed about himself like he was a prom princess. Altogether, making himself a general pain in the rear. But now he seemed content to almost play the role of the quiet house pet. Was it merely the size that brought about this change? Wheeljack wondered.

Half way through, Crystal noticed Prowl was still in the dining area, sitting at the table and going over his maps and notes. She got up–Grimlock instantly moving to the warm spot she was leaving behind– and sat down at the table. Prowl didn't acknowledge her arrival.

"So Prowl," Crystal said softly as to not go above the sound of the movie. "Would you like me to tell your future?"

Prowl slowly looked up at her.

"Why do you ask that?"

Crystal pulled out her deck. "Out of everyone, you seem the most concerned with the future right now. So shuffle these."

Prowl did so; his expression clear that he was humoring her and really just wanted to get back to work. He gave them back almost in a challenge for Crystal to present something worth his while in return.

"Do you have any questions you want answered?"

Prowl gave her a look. "There's only one thing I need to know right now."

Crystal grinned. "Are you sure you aren't interested to know about your love life?"

"No."

"I know I am."

"Crystal..."

"Alright party pooper. We'll ask how we can find your friends.

"Optimus Prime and Ironhide."

"Yes."

Crystal lay seven cards face down in a row; a different spread than she had used for Jazz.

"This first card represents your past."

If Prowl had eyes to roll, he probably would have. Looking into the past, as far as he was concerned, was not going to help answer his questions.

"You've got the Justice card, Prowl. But it's upside down. I would imagine it means there was a time in your past, where you were unsure of where you stood from a political or legal stand point. I'm assuming this is sometime before you joined the Autobots. Maybe you even had some personal moral issues going on. Though possibly, you've overcome them by now and they are no longer issues for you any more."

She turned over the next one, the King of Swords. "This is you now, this is the Prowl card. You are an advocate for making rules and sticking to them. You are of rational and alert mind with a great attention to detail and devotion to getting things done in a timely manner. You are dependable and have a high success rate at finishing what you've started."

"This next card represents your future." Crystal stopped and examined the revealed Tower card on the table. "In your future there is going to be a sudden change–"

"But in Jazz's reading, you read the sudden change going on right now," Prowl argued. "Why is mine different?"

"So you were listening," Crystal grinned.

"This doesn't work."

"Oh come on, just let me finish. You get a different reading because you have different questions than he does. And also because you're a different person. That's just the way it is. Now, this isn't something in your immediate future; but more like say, in the next six months or so. There's going to be a big, unexpected change in your life, or maybe a really large decision you'll have to make. And it's really going to throw off your normal routines and possibly not affect only your life, but those around you. And in the beginning, it may feel like it may have not been a positive aspect in your life, but in the end, you'll find it happened for the better."

Prowl's expression grew serious as he considered all the possibilities of what this thing could be.

"You're making this up."

"I am not!" Crystal blurted and was quickly shushed by Jazz, to which she repeated with a quieter. "I am not. I'm just reading what the cards say. If you don't want me to do the rest then–"

"No, no. It's fine," Prowl sighed. "Just hurry and finish it."

Though not encouraged by his attitude, Crystal went to the next card.

"This card is going to tell us what you should do about your current situation."

She flipped over the Fool card and Prowl frowned again.

"Isn't that the card you drew for Jazz? Does that mean I should ask him what to do?"

Crystal snorted. "No, it doesn't mean to ask Jazz. The Fool card represents beginnings, changes and important decisions. Though in this instance, I feel it's telling you to consider different ways of searching for your friends and to keep your options open."

She flipped over the next card.

"The Eight of Wands tells me that now is a good time for you to continue to take charge and whatever you do decide to do, your friends will follow you. However," She turned the next card to reveal the Hermit card face down. "You worry that your position separates you from your comrades. That they rely on you too heavily and in turn, cause you to be inclined to rely only on yourself. But the previous card states they are behind you so you shouldn't hesitate to ask them if you want their advice."

"And lastly, your final out come is..." She turned over the Death Card.

Prowl stared at her.

"Oh, don't you even jump to conclusions," Crystal quickly said. "The Death Card just represents changes. It's probably saying what's going on now is going to lead to some life changes. Possibly a different out look on life, or changes in your usual routine."

"Or a permanent change in size," Prowl grumbled. "You know these cards never told me whether or not I would find my comrades."

"Well maybe they thought there was something more important coming that needed to be brought to your attention."

Prowl shook his head. "You put your faith in odd things."

"It's just a game, Prowl. You don't have to take it seriously."

"Speaking of which," Prowl recalled. "Jazz told me something interesting about you making a bet with fate on finding us and getting us home."

"Jazz tells you everything, does he?

"He does. So explain this wager to me."

Crystal held up her fingers. "Two days," she said cryptically. "I have a car that's in the shop. It's going to cost me 600 bucks to get it out. I've got a little venture going on where I may get this money by then. If I can get the money and if I can find you all by the time that car is ready, then I can drive you home and maybe I can accept that not all of this is just coincidence."

"So you really do believe in fate," Prowl surmised.

"I'm trying not to."

"I don't."

Crystal looked amused. "I didn't ask if you did."

"And I certainly don't believe you can control the future with a deck of cards."

Crystal rested her head on her folded arms. "Controlling the future and predicting it are two different things. Cards don't have the power to make the future; cards aren't fate."

"There are no forces driving the universe," Prowl insisted. "The future is what you make it. There is nothing else."

Crystal smiled an odd sort of smile. "We'll see, I suppose."

Author Notes: I don't speak Spanish so all the Spanish in this fic was created by an internet language generator. So I apologize if the Spanish isn't completely accurate for those who can speak it. For those who can't, don't worry. Anything said in a different language in this fic is not really important. It's just there for comic affect.

Also, I'm curious to know what you guys thought of the tarot card reading parts. I do not claim to be any kind of expert on it, but I thought it added to Crystal's personality with her love/hate relationship with fate and cosmic forces and also gave a change to add some characterization to the Autobots despite this fast paced plot. But do not worry, I'm certainly not going to lengthy card readings for every character in the story. I've got better things to do.


	4. Day 4: Comes the Rain

Author's notes: Once again, thanks so much to everyone who took the time to comment and support this story. I especially enjoy hearing what people's favorite parts were. For those who are reading this and don't have an account, this is set up so you can leave reviews without having to log in, I just can't reply to you. And for those who do have accounts, I try to reply to as many comments as I can, but sometimes, I just don't know what else to say besides "Thanks for the comments". But I read every one of them and appreciate them all. Thank you.

Small Problems

By: Ghost of the Dawn

Day Four: Comes the Rain

"Jazz. Jazz, what are you doing?" Prowl hissed in a hushed tone.

Jazz turned to look at him. He was standing Crystal's room, only a foot or two away from where the human was sleeping peacefully. Jazz had Blaster's radio form perched on his head and was looking quite suspicious to Prowl's optics.

"I'm just doing something," Jazz grinned, sounding just as suspicious as he looked.

"Jazz," Prowl spat again. "Blaster, don't you dare."

Blaster was pulled out of his hands and Jazz looked up just in time to be smothered by a pillow roughly his size.

Crystal sat on the pillow and Jazz, yawning as she placed Blaster in her lap.

"Hey, it wasn't my idea, alright?" Blaster insisted. "I didn't really have a choice."

Crystal scratched at her bedraggled hair.

Jazz squirmed beneath her. "Hey! Your fat body is crushing me! Get off!"

"Oh hush," Crystal said, shoving a smaller pillow in his face. She then yawned hugely as she hunched over Blaster, resting her forehead on him.

"This serves you right," Prowl told Jazz. "You deserve it."

"I'm not complaining," Blaster said within Crystal's embrace. "This is kinda nice."

"Oh, you guys don't ever let me sleep. It's like having children," Crystal moaned.

She put Blaster down and staggered sleepily out of the room. What she found in the bathroom, however, woke her right up.

"Argh! What is this?!"

Wheeljack and Grimlock looked up amidst the mess they made on the bathroom floor. All the contents from under the sink were spilled out everywhere.

"Tell me the purpose of this," Wheeljack requested without guilt as he held up pieces of cotton and plastic.

"No... my tampons," Crystal groaned. "Why did you– Grimlock!!"

The Dinobot paused from violently chewing a part of a box as he crouched beneath the sink. Crystal dove to inspect the ruined contents.

"Those were my contacts you dumb lizard! These are expensive! What were you thinking?"

"Crystal book say me Grimlock car-ni-vore. So me Grimlock hunt for prey."

Crystal whimpered as she sank to the ground. "You guys can't keep tearing up my stuff like this." She looked over at Prowl who was now standing next to her. "Aren't you in charge? Why don't you stop them from doing this?"

"He's been hiding in your room at night," Jazz snickered behind her back.

Crystal gave a suspicious look to Prowl who just turned and walked out. Then she set about cleaning up all the torn and ruined items and putting them in the trash.

_Flush..._

"Now what are you doing?"

"This must be a human waste disposal unit," Wheeljack said in awe. "Organics have so many body functions."

"Stop playing with that." Crystal grabbed Wheeljack's hand and pulled him away from the toilet.

"Honestly, I'm beginning to feel like I'm running a kindergarten– AHH!!!"

Crystal suddenly screamed and flung herself to the opposite side of the room, pressing herself against the wall; eyes wide open.

Wheeljack was on full alert, weapons ready. "What? What happened?"

Shaking, Crystal pointed to the shower curtain.

Wheeljack looked up at the patterned drape of plastic. His sensors picked up a life form among the colors. He climbed up on the toilet lid and pointed to the large spider.

"This?"

The spider lurched higher and Crystal jumped back with a short scream.

"Get rid of it!"

Wheeljack reached out to grab the animal. "You're scared of this spider?"

"Oh gross Wheeljack! Don't touch it! Kill it!"

The inventor hopped to the floor, letting the spider walk on his hand, causing Crystal to squirm.

"But it's so small."

"Don't bring it over here!"

"According to my data banks, it's not even a venomous species."

"I said kill it!"

Wheeljack took a step forward. "But–"

"PROWL!!"

Prowl was instantly in the bathroom, ready to deal out justice where justice was needed.

"Make him take that thing far away from here!" Crystal ordered.

"But I've never been able to study a species this small before," Wheeljack protested as he was escorted out. "This is a chance of a lifetime!" He continued arguing his case until Crystal heard the front door open and shut.

Grimlock, who had seen the whole thing, transformed into robot mode and stood over Crystal, hands on hips.

"What you do that for? When you big, you no fear things smaller than you."

Crystal sighed. "Just check to make sure there aren't any more, Grim."

He stood there for a moment. "Fine."

Grimlock stomped over to the tub and thoroughly checked everything over.

"It safe now to do...whatever." There was a certain tone of disgust in his voice as Grimlock left the room.

Crystal poked her head back into her bedroom.

"Hey Blaster."

"Yo."

"You get left behind again?"

"Don't I always?"

"Want to shower with me?"

"Are you kidding? That would make my whole day!"

From behind the locked bathroom door, Blaster found himself in a place the others weren't allowed to go.

"Play me something good," Crystal said as she undressed behind the shower curtain.

"Good as in good? Or good as in what you like to listen to?"

Crystal tossed her clothes on the floor.

"Play me what I like and I'll let you tell your friends I undressed in front of you."

"Done deal."

"Well that's new." Jazz looked up as he heard Crystal's voice merrily sing along to Blaster's tune of "Hooked on a Feeling".

"I'm feeling left out."

"I'll never understand human's urge to vocalize while they're washing themselves." Wheeljack shook his head.

When Crystal stepped out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around herself, Prowl was waiting for her.

"I do it because I just need a break from them sometimes," he informed her.

"You mean come into my room at night?"

"I just... need a place where it's quiet."

"I don't mind," Crystal smiled, dropping a steam covered Blaster in Prowl's hands.

Then she closed the bedroom door behind her.

"She undressed in front of me," Blaster informed him. "It was hot."

* * *

Sideswipe and Bluestreak sat among a nest of boulders and trees, both agreeing they were getting sick of seeing boulders and trees. They stopped for a break in open farmland once, but the response of the sleepy country folk to their presence was not a positive one. The shot gun hole in Bluestreak's trunk attested to that. 

From then they stuck only to the woodlands for the numerous breaks in travel the Dinobots demanded. In which it was now customary for them to, every couple of hours, run helter skelter through the woods with an angry Brawn yelling and chasing behind them.

Sideswipe and Bluestreak had found it extremely amusing–the first couple of times. Now it was getting quite routine and the two were starting to tire of it.

"Do you think we should help him?" Bluestreak asked boredly.

"Nah," Sideswipe assured him. "I don't wish to interrupt their bonding time. Es bueno para el alma."

Bluestreak's internal communication system beeped. It was Ratchet.

"Bluestreak, what's your status? Where are you?"

The gunner paused. "Um... hey Sideswipe, where are we?"

The red Lamborghini shrugged. "Do any of us know where we really are?"

Ratchet sighed. "Can you at least tell me how long it will be until you reach New York state?"

"Well, the Dinobots are kind of slowing us down, Ratchet."

"The Dinobots? Bluestreak, put Brawn on the line!"

Bluestreak lifted his head to hear Brawn yelling every obscenity he could think of through the wilderness. The Dinobots, for their part, had no idea what any of them meant and were not offended. Hence, continued to tromp merrily around and cause Brawn more yelling.

"Uh, he's busy right now Ratchet. Has any one else shown up at the base? Or have you heard anything from Prime or the other missing Autobots?"

"No. So far you're still all we've got. So you and Sideswipe stop playing around and get up there!"

Ratchet cut the connection shrilly in Blustreak's audio.

"Well?" the grey Datsun sighed. "Any ideas?"

"Give me some time to think. El genio no puede ser apresurado," Sideswipe assured him.

Bluestreak slouched. "If you say so."

* * *

The summer day was hot, just like the ones that had proceeded it. Only today, the unrest of a pressure change could be felt in the air and despite the clear sky, clouds huddled on the horizon, silently plotting a new course in the weather. 

Parading through the summer bustle of the city was a tall, thin young woman with coppery hair pulled back into a long braid and wearing jeans under a faded summer dress. In one hand she carried a grey and red radio. The other arm held a metal dinosaur. Behind her followed three small robots.

"Me Grimlock no understand why you need these," Grimlock said as he reached for the glasses perched on Crystal's nose with his small forearms.

Crystal bent her head away from his grasp.

"I have to wear them because you destroyed my supply of contacts."

"Me Grimlock say they make you look funny."

Crystal glanced back at the other three Autobots to confirm. All of them avoided her gaze.

"Well I'm sorry, but I have to use them so I can see."

"You optics no work?" Grimlock demanded. "Have Wheeljack fix!"

"It's not that easy, Grim. I doubt Wheeljack is familiar with that kind of surgery."

"Well actually, I've always been curious about–"

"No," Prowl and Jazz cut him off at the same time.

That time, Grimlock successfully plucked the glasses off her face. "Ha! Now you no see me!"

Crystal snatched them back. "I see you just fine. And now you're walking."

She dropped Grimlock none too gently and marched on ahead.

"I think you look cute in them," Blaster put in.

Crystal raised the radio so she could face him. "You think so?"

"Oh yeah, you've got that sexy librarian thing going on."

She gave Blaster a dubious look.

"Do you talk that way to all girls or do you want something from me?"

Blaster laughed. "I'm just glad anyone is talking to me. So do have a boyfriend or what?"

This time, Crystal laughed. "Oh man, let me tell you, if a talking radio did it for me, Blaster, I'd be all set."

"I think I'll carry Blaster for a while," Jazz announced, frowning in disprovement.

"Yo Crys! Don't let him touch me!" the radio protested. "Why would I want to be handled by a mech when a lovely lady can hold me? By the way, feel free to hold me tighter. I don't mind at all."

Jazz ran in front of them, stopping Crystal in her tracks.

"Give him to me now."

Crystal grinned. "I don't mind carrying him. I'll carry you too if you want, Jazz."

Jazz stopped to consider. But Prowl was already pushing him forward.

"He's fine."

"Okay guys," Crystal then said. "So what is your plan for today?"

"Same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the–ouch!"

Prowl hit Jazz one more time for good measure.

"We will pick up where we left off in our search," he told her.

"Anything you want me to do Prowl?" Crystal wondered.

"No, I'd rather you stayed out of it. I don't want you to run into any more Decepticons. But if you could possibly take Blaster... and maybe Grimlock..."

"Me Grimlock no need to be–"

"For her protection."

"Me Grimlock do it. Her helpless against small things. Need protection from me Grimlock."

"Now wait a minute! I'm not that helpless!"

"And her blind."

"I'm not blind!"

Prowl sighed. He was already tired and the day had just barely begun.

"Is it okay if you took them with you, Crystal?"

"Yeah, that's fine. And Jazz knows how to reach me on my cell when you guys are done."

Prowl nodded. "Don't wait out for us. We may be out late."

Crystal set Blaster down and crouched next to Prowl. The little Autobot looked surprised as she grabbed his hand.

"Hey," she said gently. "It's okay if you don't push so hard. No one expects miracles and you can't force these things to happen."

Prowl looked down at the human hand holding his and then raised his optics to meet her gaze.

"I can't give up on them," he told her.

"I know." She tugged him closer and pulled him into a hug. "It will be okay."

Prowl's expression looked regretfully unswayed by her assurance, but his optics widened when she kissed the side of his face.

"Hey, Prowl's not the only one who's been looking all this time," Jazz insisted.

"Of course," Crystal smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

Jazz was beaming long after it was over.

"That should keep your batteries charged," Crystal laughed and lightly pushes his helmet. "Dork."

She then looked over at Wheeljack who signaled he needed no such luxury for himself. Then Crystal wished them all luck and waved them off before she, Grimlock, and Blaster went their own way.

* * *

It was Wheeljack's idea to go by the roofs. It allowed them to survey more ground and kept them from getting underfoot of shocked pedestrians. Though Jazz was quick to point out that it still didn't do them any good if the Autobots they were looking for were inside or underground. 

Prowl's door panels seems to sag as he looked over the city streets below him. Even he was beginning to be affected by their lack of results.

"What else can we do?"

"The smart thing to do is leave behind some kind of clues to help the others locate us," Wheeljack offered. "But--"

"But," Prowl finished. "We have Laserbeak and Ravage to worry about. If the Autobots can find it, the Cassetticons can find it."

"I think we need to face the facts that the chances of finding Prime and Ironhide are slim to none," Wheeljack stated.

"We found you, didn't we?" Prowl shot back.

"No, that girl found me. And it was a lucky coincidence. But would it really be a bad thing if we left before we found them? Those two can take care of themselves. We would have better luck if we could get help from the other Autobots--normal sized Autobots. Then we wouldn't be afraid to use our radios and locating equipment."

"I don't leave mechs behind," Prowl insisted.

"Well what does Jazz think of all this?"

The two looked over to see Jazz gazing over the edge of the roof at the city.

"Jazz," Prowl said. "Your input."

Jazz glanced over at them and shrugged. "Whatever you guys want to do is fine."

Prowl raised a suspicious optic ridge at his friend's unusual melancholy.

Jazz gave him a weak smile. "I really am bad at making my own decisions aren't I? Not a good trait for a second in command to have."

"Don't do this just because of a few cards," Prowl frowned. "I've seen you lead troops in battle. Don't tell me you're not good at making decisions."

Jazz didn't have a response for that and Prowl found himself going back to his own card reading from the night before.

_"Isn't that the card you drew for Jazz? Does that mean I should ask him what to do?"_

_"No, it doesn't mean to ask Jazz."_

A stubborn look crossed Prowl's face.

"What exactly do you want to do, Jazz?"

* * *

Crystal dug out her cell phone when it rang, curious of who would be calling her. The number was not listed, but she answered it anyway. 

"Hello?"

"Hey Crys, where are you?"

"Hey Jazzy, I'm over at Central Park." She paused. "Do you want to come play with us?"

"Yes!" came almost a plaintive voice. "We'll be right down!"

* * *

A while later, three small Autobots could be seen strolling through Cental Park. They were given a few odd stares from various park attendees, but hardly bothered. It was, after all, New York City. 

They spotted Crystal under a tree, Blaster sitting next to her and she happily waved them over. When they got closer, they noticed she wasn't alone. Two young human children, a girl and a boy, were hanging around her. The little girl was in a white summer dress with curly blonde hair pulled up in pig tails. She looked hardly older than three or four Earth years. Her blue eyes widened at the sight of them. She hurried over as quickly as her short, young legs could carry her. She rushed right past Jazz and Prowl towards their companion who had been hanging back since he first spotted her.

"Jack-Jack!" she squealed as she threw her arms around him clumsily.

"Hey Molly," Wheeljack responded, not returning the embrace or the enthusiasm. "How are you?"

"I have a red popsicle!" the little girl grinned.

"I noticed." Wheeljack inspected his back where the popsicle had left a smear. Further evidence was in her hand and dribbling down her chin on her white dress.

Molly then turned her gaze on the other two Autobots who took a step back. This was the first time in their lives they had encountered a human the same size they were.

"You ar' Jack-Jack's friends?"

"Yeah, Molly. They're my friends. That's Jazz and Prowl."

Molly grabbed Prowl's door panel with a sticky hand and pushed on it.

"You change into car, too?"

"Yes."

"Wanna see! Change! Change!"

Prowl's answer was obviously no before he even opened his mouth, but Jazz beat him to it.

"Sure, lil lady! Check this out!"

Jazz sprinted a few steps and then dove forward, landing into car mode and racing around the little girl who squealed with glee and started chasing him.

While Molly was properly distracted, Crystal came over to lead Wheeljack to a drinking fountain to help him wash off the red hand prints.

"Yuck," Wheeljack said as Crystal cupped water in her hands to help rinse his back. "At exactly what age do humans stop drooling all over everything?"

Crystal laughed. "I think that depends on who you ask."

She moved to wash the hand print off Prowl's door next.

"Wow! More of them!"

An older by of about seven ran over to them. "How many of you are there, Wheeljack?"

"Miniature size in New York? A couple more. Full size and looking for us? Hopefully a lot."

"Cool! Can I meet the big ones?"

"We'll see Trevor. It could be dangerous. It'd rather not put you or your sister in that kind of situation."

"Aww..."

"Sorry, kid."

"Well at least I got to meet a robot dinosaur! He's the coolest ever!"

"Yes! Me Grimlock coolest ever!" announced the Dinobot as he approached.

"Cooler than anything you built us, Wheeljack," Trevor agreed.

"I DID build him. And the other Dinobots as well," Wheeljack informed the child.

"There's more? Woah!"

Prowl looked at Wheeljack. "So these are the kids you were staying with?"

"Yeah, Molly and Trevor. Their parents are out of town for the week and their nanny spent the time trying to pretend I didn't exist."

"Who is over there reading a book while I do her job for free," Crystal grumbled while glaring at a brunette about her age sitting under a tree. She looked as though she had never had a days worth of real work in her life.

Then Crystal's expression turned lighthearted. "Hey Trev, show Wheeljack what you've been working on."

The boy's eyes brightened and he grandly turned to Grimlock.

"Grimock, sit."

The Dinobot sat on his haunches.

"Grimlock, roll over."

He rolled.

"Grimlock, dance!"

Grimlock started with the Hustle which melted into some moves from the Macarena.

Wheeljack slapped a palm to his face.

"He's not a dog! He's a massive battle machine! You can't just–"

"Me dance if me want to, Wheeljack," Grimlock informed him.

Right then, Jazz drove up and transformed into his robot mode.

"Yeah cuz your friends don't dance and if they don't dance, well they're no friends of mine."

"Yes! Not friend of me Grimlock!"

"Gotchoo!" Molly cried, jumping on Jazz's back and taking her turn to get him sticky.

"Hey hey!" Blaster called from where he was sitting on the grass. "If you're going to dance, do it over here! I'm lonely."

The group migrated over to be closer to Blaster's company. Crystal sat herself next to him while Jazz and Grimlock played with the children. Wheeljack wandered around to inspect his surroundings. Prowl stood next to Crystal, arms folded and silently watched Jazz run around.

"He's got quite a bit of energy, even for a robot, doesn't he?" Crystal commented as she followed Prowl's gaze.

"He does," Prowl agreed. "This sort suits him better than battle."

"So you guys weren't gone too long. How did he persuade you to come back here anyway?"

Prowl's door panels seemed to wilt a bit. "I... don't know."

"Well since you're here why don't you come sit by me and relax?" Crystal patted the place in the grass next to her and, after a moment's thought, Prowl complied. Though he still didn't look too agreeable with it.

"Come on," Crystal urged, patting the top of his helmet. "This is good for you. You need a break. If you don't, you'll burn yourself out. Besides, they say sometimes the best solutions come when you're not thinking about them."

It took a while, but Prowl slowly submitted to Crystal's coaxing. Even he had to admit it was peaceful out here. The sounds of the Saturday park goers mixed with the hum of the traffic in the background was not entirely unpleasant. That combined with the soft grass and the lazy breeze seemed to calm the uptight mech. Before long, Prowl was laying in the grass, his head on Crystal's leg, optics off. Every once in a while Crystal would ghost her fingers over his helmet or back in a comforting gesture. She wondered, with his metal skin, if he felt her touch at all. At least, he didn't seem to mind.

Eventually, the nanny of the two children decided to do her job and gathered them up to go home for dinner. Once again, never acknowledging the robots they had played with all day. It was only mid afternoon, but the park was shadowed due to some heavy looking clouds floating overhead. With the children gone, Jazz wandered back to his friends.

"So now what do you want to do?" he greeted loudly.

Crystal put a finger to her lips and indicated to the still form of Prowl lying beside her.

"I thought you said you guys don't sleep," she said quietly.

"We don't," Jazz confirmed, squatting next to her. "That's different. He's just turned off a few of his functions to conserve energy. Probably just trying to kill time until we do something worth his attention."

"He's resting," Crystal insisted.

"Not Prowl," Jazz argued. "He won't really rest until this is all over."

Wheeljack came up to them next, cupping something in his hands.

"Hey 'Jack," Jazz greeted. "Where ya been?"

"Just looking around." Wheeljack came in close to Jazz and opened his hands revealing a large monarch butterfly. "This world is so small and intricate. At the size we were, we could never see these kind of things–not really. Even in vehicle mode, we're closer to their level, but it's still not the same."

The butterfly fluttered away and Wheeljack sat down, stretching his legs in the grass. Despite his lack of facial features, there was still something about the inventor that seemed serene, almost content.

"It's just... different down here."

A young man in shorts and a sporty top approached them and Crystal's eyes widened.

"Excuse me," he said. "I notice you have a collection there. I thought maybe this was yours." He had Grimlock in his hands.

Crystal popped right up, disturbing Prowl and hardly noticing.

"Uh, yeah. I guess," she said in a nervous voice, reaching for Grimlock. "Sorry if he got in your way."

"Nah," the man smiled. "My friends and I were just playing soccer when he wandered in."

"Heh, I know," Crystal grinned stupid. Boy that guy was cute.

The young man paused. "Wait, you were watching us?"

Crystal froze. "Uh..."

Grimlock looked up at her. "You tell me Grimlock you want boyfriend. Me Grimlock get."

The young man raised his arms. "Woah, I'm sorry. I already have a girlfriend."

"Too bad for her," Grimlock informed him. "You date this one now. Me Grimlock not going out to look for 'nother boyfriend."

"Grimlock!" Crystal grabbed his jaws, holding his mouth shut before he said anything else.

The guy gave her a suspicious look. "You ask the dinosaur to pick up guys for you?"

Crystal was appalled.

"I do no such thing!"

"Crystal," Wheeljack said as he tugged on her dress. "My sensors indicate a rise in temperature and your face is an odd color. What does this mean?"

"It means we are going. Someone grab Blaster, quickly."

Crystal hastened away from them, one hand at the side of her face in a failure to mask her mortification. They guy that had approached her continued to watch her leave, unimpressed.

"You named your radio, too?"

"Screw you, Jack! I like my name," Blaster said as Prowl carried him off.

Surprised, the young man jumped at the expected retort and watched the parade of mini robots follow the young woman away.

"Oh, I have never been that embarrassed in all my young adult life," Crystal groaned.

Right then, the clouds that had been looming over the city for some time finally broke open and spilled heavy rain. Though the July weather was warm enough that the rain wasn't entirely unpleasant, Crystal still sighed.

"Of course this would happen now."

Jazz grabbed her hand and led her across the street and under an awning, out of the rain.

"Think it's going to end soon?" Blaster asked.

A peel of thunder racer overhead.

"Probably not," Prowl frowned.

"Pessimist," Jazz jeered, repeating Crystal's tease from the night before.

Another boom of thunder rocked the sky.

Crystal sighed. "Let's just go home."

The streets were becoming less crowded as pedestrians ran for cover or hailed taxis. Likewise, the buses were overcrowded with people from the weather. Crystal decided not to bother and just make it home the old fashioned way.

Prowl was leading the pack, confident of the way to go and comfortable in the position. He held Blaster up high as he attempted to jump a curb with a large puddle of water gathering at the bottom. The rain hardly bothered him, but for once, Prowl was looking forward to calling it a day, even though their efforts had not born any results.

"Hey, stop Prowl," Wheeljack called.

Prowl paused and looked behind him. Wheeljack and Grimlock were a few steps back and even further behind was Jazz holding onto Crystal's hand, trying to move her forward. But the human was looking in a completely different direction.

"Hey, come on," Jazz urged.

Crystal waved him off. "Wait. I heard it."

"Heard what, Crys?"

"That sound. You know, that sound you guys make when you transform."

All Autobots tensed and looked in the direction Crystal was. It was hard to hear anything above the pouring rain. Jazz raised his audio input and combed the area with his visor. The rain was disguising everything–if anything was even out there. He didn't pick up a trace.

"Come on, let's just–" He reached up to grab her hand, but it was already gone.

Crystal was half way across the street. She splashed once into a large puddle before hopping upon a curb.

"I'm going to check it out," she called over the traffic.

Jazz was still holding an arm aloof to her as if trying to summon her back to him. But she disappeared into an alley. Prowl and Wheeljack came up behind him.

"What do you guys want to do?" Wheeljack asked. "If she's off on a wild goose chase, is it really worth the energy?"

"And if she did hear something, it's possible there are Decepticons and not necessarily Autobots in the area," Prowl added.

"And if there are Decepticons and we're found," Jazz put in. "Well we just made their jobs a whole lot easier. Might as well put a friggin' bow on us cuz we're no match for them."

However, every Autobot knew that they had to go. Once the green walk light was on, they all quickly crossed in front of the surprised cab drivers and took cover in the alley on the other side.

"We will proceed with caution," Prowl informed them. "We'll split into two teams. Grimlock is with me. If you don't find anything, meet back here in no less than one hour. If something does happen, run. Try to get back to the apartment if you can without being followed. If that is not an option, get out of the city. Everyone understand?"

Even though they all knew the feeling of being lost in such a big world and were not looking to experience it again, they nodded.

"Blaster, you have to stay behind."

"No way Prowl! Don't leave me here, man! That ain't cool!"

"I'm sorry, it's too dangerous." Prowl took one last look at Blaster before covering the radio with debris from the alley. "We will come back for you, my friend."

Then the group of four Autobots split up into their two parties and slipped into the darkness, the rain disguising their trail.

Jazz led the way with Wheeljack close behind. Every sensor he dared to use was open. Even with is extra sensories however, it was difficult in the rain. But then the ground trembled beneath them and that was something even the weather couldn't disguise.

"Did you feel that, Wheeljack?" Jazz whispered.

"Yeah, Crystal's hunch was right. I'd bet my transistors that Rumble or Frenzy are around here somewhere."

"Hopefully, not both," Jazz added.

The two proceeded cautiously. The area they were in was old and run down. Though once apartments home to many families and college students, now only home to rats and alley cats.

Wheeljack pointed to a dark brown building that still had most of its windows in tact.

"Over there, Jazz."

Jazz looked. At first he didn't see anything. But then flashes of light flickered inside the bottom level of the building.

Laser fire.

They climbed in through a broken window and took cover in the lobby behind a moldy desk. Jazz's sensitive audios told him there was definitely movement in this building. He motioned for Wheeljack to move to the next room.

Past the lobby the place had been entirely gutted. Only thick support beams were standing in rows throughout the area. The rest was empty. From the floor below, both Autobots could pick up loud shuffling and the high squeal of laser rifles. Both nodded to each other, realizing they would have to find a way to the basement.

Their search revealed a stair well whose door was hanging off its hinges. Carefully they descended into the darkness of the building's basement. There were no windows below and it was pitch black. There were sounds of a battle below them and every once in a while a streak of laser fire could be seen.

Then, as they reached the bottom, silence.

Wheeljack and Jazz hunched on the bottom step, on the precipice of utter darkness.

When nothing else happened, Jazz slowly slipped off the last step and peeked around the half open door. It was utter blackness in the room and still no sound. Jazz took a few steps more, with Wheeljack close behind him.

Once in the darkness, Jazz could pick up the sound of heavy metallic feet walking around. Before he could go any further, something grabbed him, lifting Jazz off the ground and clutching him tight. A hand went over his optics and Jazz could instantly tell the body he was being pressed against was not made of metal.

"The light," a shaky voice breathed in his audios. "They can see it."

Jazz realized his mistake. In the pitch black any optic light would give his position away instantly. He switched off his optics and turned on his night vision radar.

The person holding him had to be Crystal. It felt like the right body type clutching him. He could partially make out some high cackling in the back of the room. Both Rumble and Frenzy; possibly others. Though it was hard to hear over Crystal's wildly beating heart pounding into his back

Jazz could feel the human girl's body shaking as she carefully put him down. He was about to suggest she get out of there when Crystal was no longer next to him. In the darkness there was the sickening sound of flesh hitting metal—heavy and dull against the pillar's sharp twang. There was a scraping sound and another thud on a pillar further down.

"Hey Frenzy, I thought I heard another Autobot, but it's this human! What do you think I should do with it?"

Jazz's fuel pump was racing. Even with his night vision, he was afraid to peek out to see the Decepticon's positions. He had to help her, but he didn't have a plan- especially one that had a chance of them all living through this.

"Make it scream, Rumble," Frenzy's voice cackled further away. "I like it when they do that."

That was it. Jazz had to do something. He had to save her life even if it cost him his own. He jumped out from behind the pillar, weapon ready. With his night vision, he could see Rumble just in time for the Decepticon to drop his victim and arch backward in pain. Rumble shrieked and Jazz could see smoke rising from his back.

"What'sa matter now?" Frenzy demanded.

"Acid!" Rumble cried in pain. "It's eating through my armor!"

He flopped on the floor among the dust and grime and tried to rub it off while Frenzy broke into high pitched laughter.

Jazz felt a glimmer of hope. Acid pellets meant…

Yes, there he was. Prowl was crouched behind a pillar close to the two Decepticons.

A heavy hand fell on his shoulder and Jazz turned to see Grimlock with Wheeljack next to him.

"Do as me Grimlock say. Him Prowl have plan."

* * *

"Shut up Frenzy! Slag, this really hurts!" Rumble barked at his laughing brother. 

But Frenzy wasn't showing any sign of stopping. That is, until his chest started hissing smoke and he, too, began yelping in pain.

Prowl, Jazz, and Grimlock came out of their hiding places, weapons firing at full force. Blinded by pain, rage, and the opportunity to slag them some mini Autobots, the two Cassetticons took the bait. They thundered after the fleeing Autobots, tearing up the door way and the walls as they clamored up the stairs and out of the building.

The pitch dark of the basement fell silent, save for a strained, shaky breathing somewhere near the wall. A pair of light blue optics came out of the darkness and up to the curled figure on the floor.

"Crystal, are you okay?" Wheeljack asked. The light fins on his head blinked with each word, lighting up the darkness.

Crystal was conscious, but clearly shaken; laying with her knees pulled up to her chest. Wheeljack had to touch her to get a response.

"Crystal, talk to me. Are you damaged?"

She shifted, trying to sit up with shaky arms. "I'll be okay. Just give me a moment."

"Okay, stay here. I have to check something out."

Wheeljack ventured towards the corner where he guessed Rumble and Frenzy had huddled earlier. There, the floor had rotted away, exposing the building's foundation several feet below. Wheeljack peered over the edge.

"Anybody—"

A laser blast shot out of the hole, nearly taking Wheeljack's head off. He ducked out of the way quickly, but was still able to see who was shooting at him.

"Darn it, Ironhide! It's me!"

The hole was quiet for a moment.

"Wheeljack?"

Wheeljack dared to peer over the edge again. "Yeah, it's me! Who did you think it was with these?" He pointed to his head fins.

"Sorry Wheeljack. I get a little trigger happy when Decepticons twice as big as me are after my life."

"Well it's not over yet," Wheeljack told him. "We need to get out of here now. Can you get out?"

Ironhide climbed over the debris littering the ground. "I'll see what I can do."

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to climb up on. As high as Ironhide could go was still a few feet short of Wheeljack's hand.

"Hold on Ironhide, I'll find some rope or—"

Crystal crawled up next to him and, laying on her stomach, stretched a thin arm out to Ironhide.

"Jump," she commanded.

He jumped. She caught his hand and pulled him up.

"Now let's get out of here," Wheeljack said.

"I can't see very well in this dark," Crystal admitted. "Unless Wheeljack is talking."

There was a chuckle from Ironhide.

"Come on." Wheeljack grabbed her hand and led her towards the stairs. Only a few steps in told them they could not get out that way. The door way had collapsed from Rumble and Frenzy's exit.

Wheeljack could hear Crystal's breathing pick up at the site of the blocked exit. He grabbed her hand again and pulled her back down the stairs.

"Come on, I think this place has an elevator."

Not far from the stairs, there was. Though it had long since been out of commission. The two Autobots pried the doors open. Roaches and a large rat scattered from the shaft, causing Crystal to jump. But then she stepped forward and grabbed the cord hanging in the middle and began to climb.

Her progress was slow, but the Autobots didn't press her. Wheeljack was starting to wonder if maybe she had been hurt. She had gotten so quiet.

"Crystal, are you doing okay up there?"

"You better not be looking up my dress," came the smart remark.

"Why would I want to?" Wheeljack retorted. "Plus you're wearing pants underneath. I think it's more than just your eyes that are broken."

"I'm not broken! Hey, I see light!"

Below him, Ironhide climbed over Wheeljack, with a few protests from the inventor, and grabbed Crystal's leg.

"Swing me over there, Darlin' and I'll open it for ya."

Crystal grabbed his hand and carefully helped him swing to the ledge of the elevator door. It was opened about an inch, allowing the sparse light from outside to spill into the shaft. Ironhide wedged his fingers in the crack and pried the doors open with a shrill hiss of metal.

Wheeljack was grabbed next and tossed onto the main floor before Crystal reached a foot out and gingerly balanced herself on the ledge. Wheeljack and Ironhide pulled her in.

"Now, we've got to get Blaster and get out of here as fast as we can," Wheeljack informed them. "They won't be able to keep Rumble and Frenzy busy for long."

"Ya'll got Blaster, too?" Ionhide asked as they ran out of the building.

"Blaster, Prowl, Jazz, and Grimlock," Wheeljack confirmed. "The only one we haven't found is Prime."

"Well melt me down fer a toaster, you boys have been busy!"

Wheeljack led them to where Blaster had been stashed and Crystal pulled him out and tried to wipe all the garbage off.

"Blaster, are ya stuck that way?" Ironhide asked incredulously.

"I don't want to talk about it," the radio retorted.

"Where to now?" Crystal asked. "How do we help the others?"

"We don't," Wheeljack told her. "Prowl's orders were to get you home."

Crystal dug in her heels as Wheeljack pushed her forward. "But-"

"But nothing. Those are my orders. If we show ourselves to the Decepticons now, everything will have been for nothing."

Wheeljack grabbed her hand, looking up at her. "They will meet us back at the apartment if they can. If they can't do it without being followed, they're to leave the city. And we're supposed to continue on schedule whether they come back or not. Those are our orders and we follow them."

Crystal took one last look back the way they had come and allowed herself to be led home. It was a miserable trek with the rain still pouring and all of them covered with mud and filth from the old building.

"So what have you been doing all this time Ironhide?" Wheeljack asked to make small talk.

Ironhide grunted. "Runnin' from Decepticons. What else? Don't tell me you all have been attendin' tea parties while I've been trying not to get my aft shot off!"

"Well, I don't think we've had quite as much trouble as that," Wheeljack admitted. "Not until today. Though it should be better sailing from now on. All we have to do is find Prime and this girl really has a knack for discovering Autobots. She'll find Prime for us."

Ironhide looked up at the rain soaked girl, optics wide.

"No kidding."

"It's a coincidence," Crystal muttered darkly, hugging herself in the rain. "I'm not an Autobot tracker. It's just been blind luck."

Ironhide looked to Wheeljack who shrugged.

* * *

As they shuffled into the apartment, Crystal immediately herded them to the bathroom. All of them had been covered in dust from the old building and then the rain had turned it to mud. 

"I'm not sure if this is entirely appropriate, ma'am," Ironhide said as Crystal climbed into the tub with him and Wheeljack.

"It's appropriate for the sake of my carpet and furniture," Crystal retorted. Still fully dressed, she reached up to turn the shower head on them all.

Wheeljack was a bit thankful for the group shower. As Crystal washed off the grime, he could get a better look at her skin for any cuts or blood. Crystal had insisted she was fine, but Wheeljack had a feeling she wasn't one of those people who admitted that sort of thing. And he was sure Prowl would want a full damage report on all of them if he was able to make it back.

The human girl seemed to be fine. Though Wheeljack found it a bit unlikely the human girl survived an encounter with Rumble completely unscathed, he had to accept it.

Once they were clean, Crystal kicked the Autobots out of the tub so she could slip out of her soaked clothes behind the curtain and continue with a real shower. Once done, Crystal peeked out to see if anyone was around and immediately found Wheeljack sitting on the bathroom floor with her bra in his hand and he was pulling out the wires.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded, wishing she had a towel within reach so she could punt him across the room.

As usual, Wheeljack had no sense of the trouble he was in, nor did he sound the least bit remorseful as he held up the article of clothing.

"Tell me the purpose of this."

* * *

Jazz waited. He waited and waited, just like he had learned to do. There was no taking chances with this one. No doubt Rumble and Frenzy had called Ravage and Laserbeak in to help them search. With trackers as good as they were, Jazz would have to pull every trick he knew to get them off his tail. 

The rain helped immensely to hide his trail and for hours, Jazz doubled back and hid in different places, trying to make sure he wasn't being followed. His flight took him further around the city than he ever gone before and he had found himself hiding in some very odd places.

He had been running since mid afternoon and Jazz was still running well past dark. When he was finally satisfied not even a cockroach was on his track, he started back for Crystal's apartment. Exhausted, Jazz fought to not drop his guard as he found his way back. Stumbling up the steps, he hardly put an effort to knocking on the door.

There was thumping on the other side and then the door flew wide open.

"Jazz!"

Crystal swept him up as if he were a long lost child and happily carried him inside. Jazz didn't mind one bit. He was finally home.

* * *

Grimlock showed up sometime later, caked in filth and smelling foul. He insisted it helped him hide, but Crystal rushed him to the tub nonetheless. 

Long after that, there was still no sign of Prowl. Crystal wandered around her apartment in agitation which was, Wheeljack informed Jazz, what she had been doing the entire time he and Grimlock were missing, too. Jazz attempted to talk to her and persuade her that Prowl could take care of himself and that pacing around wasn't going to bring him back sooner.

So Crystal then resigned to sitting out on the balcony with a blanket and watched the city lights in the distance. Thought it was summer, the rain had significantly reduced the temperature and it was now after 10 o'clock. The Autobots were starting to worry about the human sitting outside in the cold chill but weren't certain what to do about it.

Finally, Ironhide popped his head out the door.

"Alright, yer're done out here," he informed her with his usual gruff voice. "Get yer can back inside before ya freeze it off!"

At first, Crystal looked surprised at the tone that was being used on her. But she quickly seemed to understand that it was Ironhide's way and allowed him to pull her inside. She opted to curl up on the couch next to Jazz who was in the middle of his nightly movie marathon.

Ironhide and Wheeljack, who were not as interested in movies, sat around Blaster and discussed in low tones what their next course of action would be if Prowl didn't come back.

Grimlock wandered to the couch and looked up at Crystal. "You not watch movie?"

Crystal tore her gaze from the window. "Huh?"

Though in dinosaur mode, Grimlock attempted to climb up on the couch with his small forearms. Crystal helped him up as he settled in her lap.

"Prowl not lose to stupid Decepticons," Grimlock told her. "Him smart. Him strong. Not strong like me Grimlock, but him Prowl know what he doing. Him come back."

Crystal smiled at him. "If you say so, Grim."

"Me Grimlock say so!"

Crystal pulled her blanket tighter around the two of them and settled in.

"Hey, I want in, too," Jazz pleaded, tugging on the blanket. He burrowed under it and came up on the other side to snuggle against the human body and contentedly continue to watch his movies.

"That girls' gonna sissify all of us if we're not careful," Ironhide mumbled as he watched Jazz and Grimlock with disapproval.

"We won't be here much longer," Wheeljack assured him. "Plus I think this has been good for Grimlock. Crystal constantly interacts with him. It's making him more social. I've also noticed he's been easier to deal with while Prowl's been calling the shots."

Ironhide scratched his chin in thought. "Ya know, I don't think I've ever seen the Dinobots give Prowl any lip. They sure don't listen ta Prime and I've even seen them chase off Jazz a couple a times. But they kinda seem to listen ta Prowl, don't they? I wonder how he pulls that off."

"I'm sure he has his ways."

"Dude, Prowl's one scary motha' when he wants to be," Blaster informed them. "I wouldn't be surprised if they just don't want to be on his bad side."

"Maybe," was all Wheeljack said. He picked up a screwdriver.

"Where ya goin' with that?" Ironhide asked.

"I promised Crystal I would fix her dryer."

Ironhide huffed. "Shoot. Ya'll gonna be doin' her hair and paintin' her nails before ya know it."

* * *

It was so late that the birds were chirping right before the dawn. The apartment door was quietly unlocked and eased open as Prowl came in. 

"Hey Prowl, what's doin'?" Blaster, who was stationed near the couch, asked.

Up on the couch, Crystal was sleeping, laying on her side. On top of her was Grimlock on his stomach, tail by her shoulder and nose on her hip. He looked something akin to a large lizard sunning himself on a rock as he rested.

"She tried to stay up for you."

Prowl jumped as Jazz seemed to come out of nowhere when he said that.

"I see. And where are Wheeljack and...?"

"Ironhide? They're somewhere else. Didn't want to watch _Pretty in Pink_ with me."

"Ah. So we still need to locate Optimus Prime." Prowl paused as he noticed an unmarked video tape in Jazz's hand. "What's that?"

Jazz grinned. "We're going to find out."

He had just finished hooking up the VCR and popped the tape in. The screen was instantly filled with a fuzzy amateur picture and faded sound. It was someone's back yard in which a largely built man was play fighting a girl wearing boxing gloves impossibly too big for her. Her hair was an unusual shade of coppery red.

"Come on, Crys. Go for the knock out!" the man on the tape encouraged. He stuck out his chin and the girl awkwardly bumped it with her large glove and he pretended to fall over in a dead faint.

"Ha ha. Did you beat up Daddy?" came a feminine voice from the person holding the camera.

"Yeah, I beat Daddy!" the little girl cheered.

Jazz looked at Prowl. "Must be her parents."

"I wonder where they are," Prowl mused.

Jazz shook his head as Prowl gave him a questioning look.

"Children don't keep the home movies if their parents are still around, Prowl," Jazz told him quietly.

A hand reached out and clapped itself on Prowl's helmet. He turned around to see Crystal was awake.

"Hey, glad you came back," she said softly.

Prowl gave her a tight smile. Crystal's gaze wandered over to the TV. "They went skiing and the roads were bad. They took a turn too tight and slid off the road into a tree. I was nineteen when it happened so I knew how to take care of myself. Still, it's hard sometimes going at it when it's just you."

She sat up carefully as not to disturb Grimlock.

"So we've almost got everyone now."

Prowl nodded. "Yes. And if we hadn't come back to see you, we may not have found him."

Crystal just shrugged. "It happens. There's been stranger coincidences."

Prowl looked suspicious. "I suppose."

Crystal grinned at him and he looked even more suspicious.

"What?"

"I'm going to hug you," she warned.

Prowl took a step back but Crystal had already pounced.

As he heard Prowl struggle against more affection than he was used to, Jazz went to turn off the movie.

"I'm gonna be a fighter like Daddy!" announced the little girl on the screen.

"Are you sure?" asked her mother's voice. "There are so many other things you could do, too. Don't you want to look around and see what else there is?"

"Nu uh! I'm gonna fight!"

Jazz pushed stop on the VCR and looked back at the group. Prowl was trying to squirm out of Crystal's embrace while Grimlock had rousted himself and was clamoring over both of them saying "Me Grimlock tell you so!"

It was countless years before Jazz could remember a time when he was not surrounded by others. Especially after he had joined the Autobots and even more so when they had crashed in the Ark. That crew had become practically his family. What would it feel like to have family suddenly taken away and have to start all over again? How lonely those walls would feel if it only heard the sound of his own voice every day.

He ran and jumped into the midst of his friends earning laughter and protests from everyone. Their stay here was coming to an end but Jazz wanted to fill these walls with noise just a little bit longer.


	5. Day 5 Part One: The New Grimlock

Small Problems

By: Ghost of the Dawn

Day Five- Part One: The New Grimlock

He lifted his head as the sun peeked over the New York skyscrapers like the warm kiss of a goddess. It was one more night he had lived through. One more nightmare of darkness and shadows he had survived. Which now meant one more day completely alone.

Optimus Prime crawled out of his hiding place and stowed the weapon he had been clutching through the night. It had been a long time since he had nights like these; hiding from the shadows, being hunted mercilessly by the enemy. It had been a VERY long time since he had been by himself for so long.

Five days. Five days of running from Decepticon trackers by night and searching fruitlessly for his missing team by day. If the others had already been found, he had no way of knowing. Megatron would hunt him down even if he was the last one. 

Also for the first time in a while, Optimus had no idea what to do. Without knowledge of the whereabouts of his team, he was finding it difficult to make a decision. He had forgotten how much he relied on his officers to help him make his decisions. He no longer had Ironhide to insist on the bold, direct approach. Prowl to offer the prudent route. And Jazz to put it all in lighthearted perspective.

Without them, Optimus Prime was finding himself regrettably lacking in a plan. His constant searching and running was also depleting his energy reserves. As much as he felt now would be an expedient time to leave the city and attempt to contact any other Autobots that may be looking for him, he just couldn't bring himself to abandon his team.

Without anyone else to tell him to do otherwise, Optimus Prime stuck to his gut. Though tired, he started off again in search of his missing team; in search of his friends.

* * *

Ironhide surveyed the scene, hands on his hip.

"Okay, so how do we do this?"

"Hey man, let her sleep," Blaster said in a hushed tone. "Wait for Prowl or Jazz to–"

Ironhide was already climbing up on the couch where Crystal has fallen asleep only a few hours earlier.

"Well Prowl and Jazz aren't here right now and we need this little Autobot locator to find Prime." Ironhide perched on the arm rest over her head.

"What you doing?" Grimlock asked as he came into the room, in dinosaur mode as usual.

"We gotta get this gal up and look fer Prime," Ironhide said as he patted Crystal's cheek.

"Hm.. Not good idea for Ironhide to do that," Grimlock surveyed.

"Well why not?" Ironhide demanded. "I–"

Crystal suddenly grabbed him, rolling over to face the back of the couch. Ironhide made a sound of surprise before the girl's arm locked him in place.

"Me Grimlock warn you."

"What on Cybertron–Wheeljack! Help me outta this!" Ironhide struggled to get free, but he was in a position that didn't allow him much leverage.

Wheeljack approached and reached up to shake Crystal by the shoulder.

"Hey, come on. Time to wake up."

With one arm still around Ironhide, Crystal reached out her free arm and tapped Wheeljack on the head as if hitting the snooze button.

"It's too early, Blinky Head. Just a while longer..." She rolled over to back the couch again, snuggling up to Ironhide.

Prowl and Jazz walked in just in time to hear Wheeljack protest.

"My name is not Blinky Head and I am NOT your alarm clock!"

"Prowl, Jazz," Ironhide called as he squirmed. "Tell her to let go 'a me. She don't look it, but she's got a grip of steel!"

Prowl looked thoughtful, wondering if it was too soon to bother her. Grimlock poked his snout at the small of Crystal's back where her shirt had slid up a bit, showing her waist line.

"It wrong color," the Dinobot complained.

Unsure of what he meant, Prowl ventured his hand to pull up the shirt a bit more. The skin on her back turned a sickly green color as he revealed it and further up, it was darkening into deep purple bruises.

"I think I'm gonna have to pay Rumble back for this," Jazz growled lowly.

Prowl inspected the bruising in fascination. He had never seen human injuries up close like this before. He lightly touched a purple spot and then slowly pressed in.

Crystal sucked in a breath, suddenly sitting up, hair all over her face. Ironhide scrambled away while he had his chance. Crystal looked around her, still disoriented from sleep.

"What?" she asked in a scratchy voice.

"Your back is all dinged up," Jazz said. "Does it hurt?"

Crystal shifted her shoulders and groaned. "I can feel it."

She tried to look down the back of her shirt over the shoulder, but it was near impossible to see the damage. So she turned her back to the Autobots and revealed her back to them.

"How does it look?"

"Colorful," Jazz said. "Kinda green and purple."

"How purple?" Crystal sighed.

"Eh..." Jazz tipped his hand in a so-so gesture.

"Is the skin broken anywhere?"

Prowl inspected closer. "I believe it's in tact."

"Good. I should be okay for tonight then." Crystal shifted and made a face. Everything in her head felt like it was starting to clog up. She hoped she wasn't getting sick from being in the rain.

"Okay, I'm going to get dressed," Crystal announced. She stood and went to her room before Prowl could ask what their plans were for the day. Instead of dressing, however, Crystal plopped on her bed and fell back asleep.

* * *

"Ratchet."

_Poke. Poke._

"Hey. Hey Ratchet!"

Ratchet came online with a start, almost falling out of his chair. It took him a moment to focus his optics on the yellow and blue blobs which turned out to be Sunstreaker and Tracks.

"Woah, you look awful," the former said. "How long have you been sitting here at the control center?"

Ratchet groaned as he straightened his back. "Since I sent your brother and some others off to New York City almost two days ago."

"Lucky dogs," Tracks put in. "New York is my town."

"Well they gotta be there by now, right?" Sunstreaker asked. "It's probably all taken care of."

Ratchet sunk back into his seat, staring at the ceiling. "I wish. Last I talked to them, they didn't even know where they were, let a lone how close they were to the city." He paused. "Where is the rest of your team?"

"Probably still in the Middle East somewhere," Sunstreaker shrugged.

"Don't expect them any time soon," Tracks added. "There's a war going on over there. Getting through customs, even for Autobots, is complete murder."

"Then how did you two make it back?" Ratchet asked, his face suspicious.

"It's all business, my friend," Tracks answered with a confident smile. "Do some favors for the right people and you can make things happen. Before we knew it, we were on a boat stateside."

Ratchet sighed. "I don't even want to know what you two had to do for that."

"I couldn't stand it there any longer," Sunstreaker said. "With all the sand in my gears and the dry heat and then the ocean air stripping my paint."

"Not to mention all the insects in my grill from about four different countries," Tracks continued. "It took me almost an hour to get it all out."

"I soaked in cleaning solution for at least two."

Ratchet, who had been listening to their complaints with mild interest, suddenly stiffened. "Wait a minute. You two have been here for a while!"

Tracks returned his angry glare with a mild look. "About half a day, yeah."

Ratchet was boiling, currently too outraged to form words.

"Hey," Sunstreaker announced. "Let's head on over to New York ourselves and see what's going on. If we missed all the hard stuff, we can just stay and see the sites."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Tracks agreed as they both turned their back on Ratchet's fury and started heading out. "I have friends there I haven't seen in ages. I'd love for you to meet them."

In his irritation, Ratchet reached for the first tool he could get his hands on and flung it at the two retreating Autobots. It ricocheted off Tracks' back with a loud twang. Tracks stiffened as Sunstreaker gasped loudly, his hands covering his mouth.

Tracks clenched his shaking fists. "Ratchet, you didn't just..." 

"Now hold on, hold on," Sunstreaker said. "Let me inspect the damage." He carefully looked over where the offending object had impacted. "Oh, that's just a small ding. I can easily buff that out before we go. Come on."

Sunstreaker herded him out the door, knowing full well Tracks would not win if he chose to take on Ratchet that day. Ratchet just sighed when they had left and plopped back in his chair, tipping his head back tiredly.

"Prime, Jazz, Prowl," he told the ceiling. "I don't envy any of you with your jobs. And when I find out what happened to you, I'm going to kill you for making me stay here."

* * *

"O-oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light?"

Out on the balcony, Crystal greeted the mid morning sun by placing a hand on her heart and singing to the American flag she had hanging outside.

"What so proudly we hail at the twilight's glad gleaming."

"Who's broad stripes and s–bright stars," Jazz fumbled to sing with her. "Over something and fight. What the... something we watched. And I don't know the words."

Grimlock chimed in, obviously not knowing the words either and just singing what he felt like.

"And me Grimlock is king! Over everything! And me Grimlock is king! Bow to Grimlock, he king!"

Prowl stood with them, right hand on his chest, in silent dignity as Crystal led them to the end.

"O-oh say does that start spangled ban-neer yet wa-ave?"

"Oh, I know this part!" Jazz chimed in more confident. "O're the la-and of the free and the home of the brave! Play ball!"

Crystal laughed. "Play ball isn't part of the national anthem."

"It's not?" Jazz demanded.

"Uh, no. But happy Fourth of July you guys."

From inside, Ironhide snorted. "That girl's got them all wrapped around her little finger. It's disgusting." 

Wheeljack just shook his head and continued to watch the Discovery Chanel.

"What mean this Fourth of July?" Grimlock asked as they came inside. "Why it big deal?"

"It's our Independence Day, Grim It's a very big deal," Crystal insisted. "Many people died so we could live here, free to make our own decisions. Weren't you built over in Oregon?"

"Yes. Me Grimlock built on Earth."

"More importantly, built in the US," Crystal corrected. "That makes you an American citizen. You should learn your country's history."

Grimlock looked thoughtful.

"Don't go putting ideas into his head," Wheeljack warned.

"Yeah, they'll get awfully lonely without anything else in there," Ironhide put in with a smirk.

"So where are we looking today?" Jazz asked Crystal as she sat herself on the floor.

"It's up to you," she replied as she went about doing a series of stretches. It was obvious from her tone she wasn't planning on joining them.

"But," Jazz argued. "But, but, but how are we gonna know where to look?"

"You know better than I do where to look." She winced as she stretched the muscles in her back.

"But you're always the one who finds them somehow. I don't think we can do it without you."

Crystal sighed. "I think you're exaggerating now, Four. I don't have any extra Autobot locating powers."

"Me Grimlock beg to differ," the Dinobot snorted. 

Crystal ignored him.

"You guys will do just fine. Look how many you have now to help you."

Prowl nodded. He was happy to keep the human out of the danger of their affairs. He already had plans in his head.

"So you're not going to help us at all now?" Wheeljack asked.

"Oh I'm helping," Crystal insisted. "If all goes well tonight, we'll have a vehicle and I can take you out of here. Even if I can't go all the way to Oregon, I'll at least get you far enough that it will be safe to contact someone. How's that for helping?"

"You said something about getting a car fixed, right?"

"Oh the car is fixed. The mechanic is just waiting to be paid. And I'll have the money if I can win this fight tonight."

Prowl paused in his mental planning and turned to look at her.

"Did you say fight?"

* * *

The engine of the yellow Lamborghini rumbled with impatience at the miles of cars ahead of him going at a turtle's pace.

"What a time to close a lane for construction," Sunstreaker grumbled over the radio. "I hate this."

"Well, it's a weekend and a holiday to boot," Tracks responded in a cool tone. "What did you expect, Sunstreaker? Just relax and enjoy the ride."

Sunstreaker's engine rumbled again. He was restless.

"I don't know what it is Tracks, but as soon as we got on the road I haven't been able to shake the feeling that I need to get out there as soon as possible. I know my brother's in good company, but I'm still worried. I love the guy but, well, he's an idiot."

"No, Sideswipe is still an Autobot. He knows how to take care of himself. And we both know he's smarter than he let's on."

"I guess..." Sunstreaker relented, though he sounded hardly pacified.

"Hey Tracks?"

"Yes."

"You know, you can get out there faster than I can..."

"I said yes, Sunstreaker."

The yellow Autobot chuckled. "Thanks. I owe you one."

"I'll hold you to that." A pair of wings grew out from under the blue Corvette which promptly took off into the air, startling a few bored motorists.

Sunstreaker watched him go, only feeling slightly better. He couldn't shake this suspicion that something was in motion. Something was happening far away from him, he could feel it. And it felt like he needed to be there. Sunstreaker just hoped he would get there in time.

* * *

"It's about time someone came to get me. It's been almost five days! What's been going on?"

"We came as soon as we could, Skyfire," Bluestreak assured him as he helped pull off the foliage that had been covering the large jet. "All the Decepticon attacks have spread us so thin, we're looking kind of pathetic."

"Is it just me or is Megatron getting smarter?" Sideswipe asked.

"He must have finally realized getting dumber wasn't working," Brawn quipped.

From the sky, Swoop flew down and perched on the jet's back.

"Skyfire damaged?" he asked with the curiosity of a child asking about another's injury. "You no fly?"

"No Swoop. Not today. I'm grounded."

"You're lucky the Decepticons haven't found you all this time," Brawn said.

"Yeah, I am," Skyfire retorted in an accusing tone.

"Have you heard anything from Prime or Prowl or anyone?" Bluestreak asked.

"Nothing. Prime insisted on absolute radio silence before he left so I wouldn't be found. So you mean to say you haven't heard from them either?"

"Nothing," Brawn confirmed. "According to Ratchet, that was Prime's last radio communication. We have no idea what happened to his team. All we do know is that the Decepticons are still lurking somewhere in the city. So that's where we're going to look."

Skyfire paused. "Any specific reason you had to bring the Dinobots with you?"

Brawn frowned. "Ratchet in his_infinite_ wisdom insisted they come and– Sludge is heading for the freeway! Sideswipe, stop him!"

"On it, boss!" Sideswipe gleefully jumped off Skyfire and headed for the wandering Dinobot.

"And figure out some way to control them while you're at it!" Brawn called after him.

"This doesn't look good, does it?" Skyfire asked.

"No," Brawn admitted tiredly. "It doesn't. Megatron has made all of us look like chumps and there's nothing I can do about it."

"You should go to the city and leave me here. I'll be fine."

Brawn shook his head. "No. I should you back. We may need you to start shuttling Autobots out here as fast as possible." He looked towards the city. "If it were any other team missing I'd be worried. But whatever happened to them, they can handle it." He then gazed dubiously in Sideswipe's direction. "It's these yahoos I'm worried about. But unfortunately, I'm the only one who has the power to haul you back to base. Primus help them. That's all I can say."

"They'll be fine, Brawn."

"Well, if anything, maybe they'll at least stir up enough activity so we can figure out what's going on." Brawn turned to Blustreak who seemed to have spaced off like he often did.

"Bluestreak, I'm going to load Skyfire in the trailer and get out of here. While I'm gone, you're in charge."

Bluestreak's optics grew to almost twice their size. "Me!"

Brawn took one last look at Sideswipe who was taking his turn to yell and chase the Dinobots.

"Good luck, kid. You're going to need it."

Bluestreak still looked a bit shell shocked even as Brawn hitched himself to the full trailer and pulled away. Then he turned his attention to the distance where the Dinobots were milling around with Sideswipe in the midst of them.

"So Brawn's gone. Now we can get it done my way," Sideswipe said as Bluestreak approached.

"Actually," Bluestreak said in a small voice. "Um, Brawn kind of left me in–"

"Dinobots! Listen up!" Sideswipe announced, blowing off Bluestreak completely. "We're going to infiltrate the city right under Megatron's nose and I have a plan!"

To their credit, the Dinobots actually did stop and take note of him which was more courtesy than they had ever given Brawn. The moment, however, was short lived and they started off on their own again.

"Maybe we should.." Blustreak started to suggest.

"Hey! Hey!" Sideswipe took off after them. "Where do you think you're going? I'm in charge now!"

"Small car bot not in charge of Dinobots," Slag announced.

"Dinobots only listen to leader Grimlock," Sludge added pragmatically. 

"Well then," Sideswipe said as he ran in front of them. "You will listen to me now because I am the NEW Grimlock!"

The Dinobots froze. It was clear they were trying to process this new information. It took them almost two minutes to do so.

"New Grimlock?" Snarl finally asked.

"There only one Grimlock," Swoop insisted. "Sideswipe cannot be Grimlock too."

"Why not?" Sideswipe argued. "Do you see any other Grimlocks here? Why can't it be me?"

The Dinobots thought about it some more.

"You not Dinobot!" Slag told him. "Only Dinobots lead Dinobots! You think you like us?" He transformed into his impressive robot mode which was much taller than the already quite tall Lamborghini. "You want to be Dinobot leader? Fight Slag for it!"

Sideswipe looked thoughtful at the challenge while Bluestreak was near panic.

"Sideswipe, you can't fight him! There's a reason his name is Slag!"

Once again, he was ignored.

"And if you did win, Slag, then what?" Sideswipe asked. "I'm sure you most certainly know where Grimlock is?"

"Hnn..."

"Well then, you must at least have a plan on how to look for him."

"Uh..."

"Not to mention getting all of you into the city limits without being noticed."

Slag was quiet.

"We follow New Grimlock only until Dinobots find Old Grimlock."

Bluestreak was dumbstruck. Sideswipe's golden tongue had gotten him his way again.

"Excellent," he said, rubbing his hands in excitement. "Here is what we are going to do."

* * *

Prowl was at a crossroads and he did not know which way to turn. Very few things took prerogative over what his logic circuits told him. But when his protective side began to work, he found himself conflicted. He sat outside for a while, dangling his legs between the rails on the balcony and wrestling internally with himself.

Jazz watched him out the window from where he was sitting on the couch. He found Prowl's personal conundrum more amusing than anything else.

Crystal came out of the small laundry room where Wheeljack was tinkering with Blaster some more. She had a fresh load of newly dried clothes and was extremely happy her jeans weren't going to feel like sand paper any more.

On her way towards her room, she noticed a pair of blue optics peering out of the utility closet. That was Ironhide. Crystal felt a bit sorry for him. Apparently, while all his other comrades were snug at her apartment for the past few days, he had been spending his time constantly running and fighting for his life from Decepticons. He had not been hurt, but Crystal could imagine it was probably quite mentally and physically taxing on the little red robot.

Jazz had assured her that while Autobots had to offline and recharge eventually, all of them could go for a few more days without the proper equipment. He explained how they had internal repair and recharging systems to help them keep going. These, of course, worked best when one had some quiet time just to sit and recharge. And if that was what Ironhide needed, Crystal was more than happy to let him hide in her utility closet for as long as he wished.

"So is he still sulking outside?" Crystal asked as she came back out and sat next to Jazz.

Jazz looked over from where he was watching Prowl. "Yeah. He's used to being in charge. Prowl doesn't do so well in situations where he's not in control. It sometimes makes him shut down for a bit."

"It sounds like he's just pouting," Crystal said. She got up and headed for the balcony door. "Going to come in and join us?" she asked as she walked outside.

Prowl just frowned at the scenery.

"You know you're missing the Fourth of July parade. That might be a good opportunity to look around for your missing friend."

Still no response.

Crystal sat herself cross legged behind him. "What? Seriously, what is the problem? You're acting like a child."

The frown etched itself deeper into Prowl's face. "I don't like you risking yourself like that for us. It isn't right."

"Oh please, don't flatter yourself," Crystal snorted. "I was at the gym every night preparing for this fight which was booked before I even met you guys. I'm doing this for that fat winner's purse so I can pay the ransom to get my car out of the shop. Which, while it profits you as well, was my plan all along. I want my car back."

Prowl still didn't respond, but it was obvious he was processing the information.

_Squeak. Squeak, squeak._

Prowl glared. She was playing with his door panels again. He didn't appreciate it when she grabbed the tips and made them squeak by flapping them.

"Soo... " Crystal urged with a smile. "Are you going to come watch me? Grimlock is."

_Squeak. Squeak. Squeak._

Prowl shrugged his doors out of her grip. "I'm not going to go out there just to watch you get pummeled."

Crystal's mouth fell open in exaggerated offense.

"You think I'm going to lose! Thanks a lot!"

"That's not what I meant."

Crystal got up. "Like I need your support anyway." And marched back inside.

Prowl was quick to follow, staying right on her heels.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just don't– Hey are you even listening to me?"

When she passed Jazz, Crystal threw him a sly grin before running off down the hall with Prowl after her. Getting Prowl inside away from his brooding had been her goal and she pulled it of.

Jazz had to smile. It was entertaining seeing someone else give Prowl a run for his money for a change.

* * *

Dusk fell on New York Harbor. Strips of red and purples still lingered on the horizon; the sun's last hurrah before disappearing completely for the night.

It was a messier, older part of the harbor. No large company freighters or union paid dock workers. Only a few rusted, independently owned fishing boats tied to moldy, creaky ports. Here the water looked different; thicker and churning with pollution and floating debris. Odd objects would often break the surface and then burble back down as they rose and ebbed with the tide.

From the depths of the murk and sludge, the water churned and something else broke the surface. Something with glowing blue optics and a mischievous grin. It moves towards the docks while more heads popped up in the water behind it.

Bluestreak plodded stiffly out of the bay, holding his arms away from his sides in disgust. If robots could look sick, Bluestreak would have been a bit green in the gills.

"This is one of the foulest things you have ever made me do," he said as he picked off the different bits of dripping wet garbage with distaste clearly written on his face.

Sideswipe stepped out next, not minding the unspeakable filth hanging from his tall frame. In fact, he looked extremely pleased with himself; hands on hips and surveying the new playground splayed out before them in the dim light.

There were loud sucking "Whomp" sounds as the Dinobots stood up in the water. They too were oblivious to the clutter hanging from their forms.

"Me Swoop can't touch bottom!" The pteranodon squawked as he flapped around in the surf like the drowning pigeon.

Sludge grabbed Swoop's wing in his mouth and tossed him to the sand with a flick of his long neck.

"So what now?" Bluestreak asked, a rare frown on his face. He picked at a few more pieces of trash lodged in his hinges.

Sideswipe waved them on, a finger to his lips to request silence. Or at least as much silence that could be mastered from bumbling, stumbling Dinobots. There were plenty of large stacks of cargo freights to hide behind which made Bluestreak feel only slightly safer. The Decepticons may not have known they were there, but they were still trespassing and running into security would certainly not help the mission.

Looking behind him, the Dinobots seemed to not care either way. They were probably just glad to get out of the Ark for once.

Sideswipe led them all to a chain link fence with a padlock. It seemed to be the exact place he wanted to be for Sideswipe took no time breaking the chain and ushering them all in and then into the large hanger that had been fenced off.

Bluestreak switched on his head lights as Sideswipe closed and locked the hanger door. It was massive. Even the Dinobots managed to fit in. As Bluestreak shined his lights around, he revealed strange, Earthly artifacts. Large, grinning cartoon faces. Eerie remains of grand, colorful stages and structures decorated with ridiculously oversized flowers and shiny, plastic streamers.

"Sideswipe..." Bluestreak said as he backed away from the psychedelic nightmare. "What is this place?"

Sideswipe switched his lights on as well, bringing even more oddities out of the gloom. "It's where they're storing all the floats from the parade this morning. We're going to use this stuff as part of my plan."

Right then, they went off. Those internal alarm systems that Prowl had time and again insisted Bluestreak should listen to more often. The same internal system Prowl also insisted Sideswipe didn't have. And as Bluestreak looked at the grin on Sideswipe's face and the glint in his optics, his internal warning systems told him this would not end well.

* * *

Within the same city, though almost a world apart, Ironhide was getting the same feeling. Prowl had been dubious of the arrangement, as he often was. But his reasons were not always Ironhide's.

Prowl's reasons seemed to be more personal. Which was odd in and of itself. Prowl and personal didn't exactly go hand in hand. The black and white was usually all business. But he and Jazz both had been with this human for a while and she had been helping and taking care of all of them. He probably felt the welfare of this human girl was their responsibility and THAT sounded like Prowl.

But merely this girl Crystal fighting in a ring wasn't Ironhide's biggest concern. From his own past he understood the ring. He understood fighting as a sport. He even understood using that sport to get some extra cash when funds were low. Most importantly, Ironhide understood that with these things, there was a thin linesbetween a friendly sport and something potentially dangerous.

To his expert optics, the warning signs were starting to show even before they got there.

To get "directions" for the location, Crystal left her entourage of Autbots to meet some shady looking guy standing on a street corner. When she returned to them saying she knew where to go now, Ironhide was even more suspicious.

As they neared the location, Crystal steered them around the back where she said the contenders would get in so as to not pay an entrance fee. Near the door, a burly looking guy was standing guard and Ironhide wouldn't stay quiet any longer.

"That's it, c'mere." He grabbed Crystal's hand, pulling her aside and tugged her down to his level. 

Expectantly, Crystal crouched next to him so she could look him in the face. "Yes?"

"You didn't go to that guy for directions, did ya?" Ironhide accused. "Ya went cuz ya didn't know until today where it was. Cuz it moves around all the time."

Crystal smiled calmly, not denying it. "And your point?"

"Mah point is that this here set up ain't entirely legal, is it?"

Prowl was right there at the mention of things illegal, listening in.

Crystal gave a little laugh as if he had said something cute. "Can't slip anything by you, can I? No, it's not entirely on the up and up, I'll admit. But it's cool, I promise. The guy who set me up with this was friends with my dad. He wouldn't let me go if it wasn't safe. They pay the fighters which is totally legal, but there are attending parties who like to bet on them which isn't so legal. But the fights are legit. No one's paid off to throw fights or anything so I'm actually on the safer side."

Ironhide didn't look too convinced. Neither did Prowl. But Crystal was already up and heading for the door.

"Name?" the burly man at the door asked.

"Crystal Carlyle. I'm fighting tonight."

He looked her up and down in a way she did not appreciate. Then his eyes wandered to her smaller companions. "Kids ain't allowed."

"They're not kids." Crystal bent down to pick Wheeljack up beneath his arms. "They're small robots, see? Aren't they cute?"

He raised a thick eyebrow at them. "Robots?"

"Yeah, they change into cars. Show him, Jazz."

Before Jazz could do anything, the back door opened.

"Crystal, there you are. I was wondering if I should go looking for you." An older man stepped out. He was of a heavy build; mostly muscle. He looked as though he had been a fighter himself in his younger days. Maybe still was.

"Hey, Don." Crystal greeted. "Nah, I found it fine."

Don paused, noticing the Autobots as well. "Wow, you really weren't kidding."

Crystal grinned. "Would I lie to you, Don?"

"Well you do like to keep me on my toes. Get in here. I gotta tell you what's going on."

Crystal saluted and marched inside.

"So that's yer fighter, huh?" the guard asked Don as they watched the Autobots all scuttle in.

"Uh, yeah," Done replied, not looking too thrilled with the robots either. He was about to say something else, but noticed what Jazz was carrying and followed in after him.

The guard stayed where he was outside. They were Don's problem now.

Inside was full of people, fighters and trainers talking loud and piling into every corner, waiting for the matches to begin.

"Crystal," Don called as he caught up to her. "Why do one of those things have a large boom box? You're not planning any–"

"Chill Don, Crystal assured him. The boom box just wanted to watch, too."

Don stopped in his tracks. "The boom box wanted to–what does that even mean?"

He hurried to catch up to her again, trying not to trip over the Autobots along the way.

"Where can I change?" Crystal asked, oblivious to his problems.

Don grabbed her shoulder. "Hold on, kid. We gotta talk first."

Crystal furrowed her brows at his sudden sober tone and allowed him to lead her off away from the miniature Autobots.

"What's up, Don?"

The older man rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I'm sorry kid, they've been rearranging the matches at the last minute and I'm afraid you're getting the shaft this time."

"What do you mean? Am I still fighting or what?"

He winced at her impatience. "Well, that's really up to you. They don't have anyone to fight you in your weight category, but I told them you needed the cash and asked what you could do."

Crystal sighed heavily, looking aggravated at the situation. "Fine. So what did they say?"

Prowl narrowed his optics trying to catch what the two humans were talking about. But it was hard to pick out the voices from all the other ruckus in the room.

"An exhibition match!" Crystal's voice rose above the din. "Are they serious?"

"It will be the first match of the night," Don explained. "And-"

"And they just want to watch their star fighter wipe the floor with me," Crystal frowned.

Prowl tugged on her hand. "You don't have to get involved in an unfair fight just for the money," he informed her.

Crystal looked down in annoyance. "Nosy," she said as she picked him up and put a hand over his mouth so he could offer no further argument.

"How much?"

"Just for doing it, they'll give you 200."

Crystal frowned again. "That's not enough. What if I win?"

"IF you win, they said they'll give you a thousand."

Crystal's eyes grew twice their size. She stumbled backwards into a chair, Prowl in her lap.

"How long do I have to decide?"

"Ten minutes; maybe less." Don shifted, looking a bit guilty. "Sorry kid. I wish I could have done better. I'll give you some time to think about it."

As Don moved away, the Autobots came forward. Ironhide climbed up to stand on the chair next to her and looked her in the eye.

"Ah told ya this place was shifty. Who they want ya ta fight?"

Crystal grabbed his chin and steered his face in the direction of the fighters warming up for their matches.

"That woman right there."

Ironhide gawked. "That's a woman!"

Crystal palmed his face. "Shush. Yes, it's a woman. Though they usually pit her against guys because they can't find any girls anywhere near her size and weight."

Ironhide studied the fighter. "Does she usually win?"

"Yeah," Crystal said, her expression dropping.

"Then cancel," Prowl spoke up. "We'll find some other way."

"Then again," Ironhide cut in. "Ya never know you've really lost until you've given it a try."

"No," insisted Prowl. "It's not worth it."

"Every fighter has a weakness. Even you know that, Prowl. Ya got no faith in her."

Wheeljack elbowed Jazz. "You know what this reminds me of? You ever see those cartoons where the character has the good self and bad self fighting over a decision?"

Jazz grinned. "Oh yeah, the shoulder angel and devil." He looked at the white and red Autobots arguing. "I wonder which one she'll listen to."

"I'll do it!" Crystal announced as she stood, spilling Prowl off her lap in the process. "I came here to fight, damnit and I'm going to fight with someone!"

Don had ushered the Autobots, per Crystal's request, some place where they could see the match but not get in the way of the crowds. He showed them a ladder where they could climb up to a thin catwalk. There they were almost directly over the ring. Ironhide looked far too eager for the fight to begin and Prowl certainly didn't appreciate his lofty attitude ever since Crystal had agreed with him.

"I can't believe you're supporting this," Prowl berated. "What if she gets seriously hurt?"

"Nah, she's tough," Ironhide insisted. "This ain't her first fight, Prowl. She'll be fine. Yer just sore cuz she listened ta me and not you."

"Didn't you do this kind of stuff for a bit way back on Cybertron, Ironhide?" Blaster asked as Wheeljack angled him to see the match.

"Yup," Ironhide grinned a bit in reverie. "Back in the good old days."

"There's nothing good about watching two beings pummel each other for entertainment," Prowl shot back.

"Says you."

"Hey," asked Wheeljack. "Anyone see where Grimlock went?"

* * *

"Make sure it's really tight," Crystal instructed.

Jazz had finished braiding her long hair and now helped her pin the whole thing back in a bun.

"No sense giving her an extra way to get a hold of me."

"So you're really gonna do this, huh?" Jazz asked.

"Why not?" Crystal responded lightly as she checked the tape wrapped around her knuckles. "We all need to take a few stupid risks every now and then to make life interesting."

Jazz gave her a half grin. "You think you might win?"

The match was being announced and the crowd roared as the champion got in the ring. Crystal stood up and clapped her hand on the top of Jazz's helmet. "Well Little Four, we'll see if it was meant to be."

Her name was announced while Crystal steadily made her way up to the ring. She didn't get nearly as many cheers as her opponent did– even a few boos. But Crystal expected it. This match wasn't about who would win, it was about how much her opponent could show off before Crystal couldn't take any more abuse. No one expected her to come out on top and she knew it. Even a part of her didn't expect it either. This would indeed be the ultimate test. If she won this, she would no longer be able to doubt her part in all of this.

The ring was actually a small cage with padded sides which was closed and locked when both fighters were inside. Crystal sized up her opponent. Her name was Kat Slacovka. Crystal had seen her fight before, but had never seen her up close like this. Crystal certainly wasn't too short herself, but this woman still towered over her more in bulk than height, eying her like a tiger eyes easy prey.

The ref stepped in, checking the gloves and explaining which holds would count as a win. There would be numerous rounds until a winner was locked in a hold, tapped out, or knocked out. Crystal knew if she had any chance of winning at all, it had to be done in round one. Though physically fit, she didn't have the stamina to go for an extended period of time against something with almost twice her strength. If she was going to make a move, it would have to be quick and precise.

The referee squared them off and started the match. Crystal instantly took a step back to stay out of Kat's long reach. Instead of attacking, however, Kat extended her glove, a show of sportsmanship. It surprised Crystal a bit. Maybe this woman didn't want to tear into her as badly as she had initially thought. Crystal moved forward, intent to tap her glove with her opponent's to begin the fight.

The moment she got close Kat took a swing at her with all her might. The crowed roared and jeered at the unsportsmanlike conduct. Crystal barely dodged the blow, but she still could feel the force of that swing. Any direct blow from that fist or if she got caught in any kind of lock and it would be all over. She would have to play this fast and smart.

The two female fighters circled each other. Every once in a while, Kat would swing but Crystal always stayed slightly out of reached. From the catwalk, Prowl tensed as he watched the fight.

"This whole thing is dirty. This isn't a fair match at all."

"In this business, Prowl, it's not about fair," Ironhide told him. "It's about entertainment. But that gal seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Look at her circle. She's looking for a weakness. It may be an interesting match yet."

Just as he spoke, Kat lunged forward in another vicious punch. This time, instead of dodging, Crystal grabbed the arm, holding it at an awkward angle and delivered a swift kick to her opponent's ribs. Kat stumbled back from surprise and Crystal quickly hopped a safe distance away again.

Jazz cheered from his place at the ringside. He still wasn't sure how she was going to win, but at least it was one good hit.

"I thought that kid looked familiar." 

Jazz picked up a conversation near by. "I saw her old man fight in the ring years ago. Carlyle the Crusher they called him. The man was a genius in the ring. Probably would have gone pro if he hadn't joined the military. I wouldn't be surprised if she's picked up a few of his moves."

"Oh yeah?" the man he was talking to replied. "Maybe they should have let us bet on the fight after all."

In the ring, Kat attacked again, swinging her fists, and once more Crystal dodged and aimed for her ribs. This time with her fists. But Kat didn't stumble like before. Despite the pain, the larger woman advanced and attacked again. Crystal didn't get out of the way as fast and was clipped on the side of the head.

That was when the real fight started. Both had sized the other up. Crystal found Kat was slow and preferred boxing moves while Kat found Crystal relied on her speed to stay out of the way and then attack suddenly. Kat knew how to handle that kind of fighter– give them nowhere to run.

The crowd roared again as Kat charged, backing Crystal against the wall of the cage. Crystal side stepped to get free as Kat punched. But in the middle of her retreat, Kat swung around her second fist and nailed Crystal square in the back.

Crystal gasped as the air was knocked out of her and from the pain of the punch on yesterday's injuries. As she turned, she saw the glint in Kat's eyes. Kat knew she was injured there now. She was going to aim for it.

Kat charged again. Crystal knew she now had to end this fight soon or she was going to lose. When Kat attacked, Crystal didn't run. She ducked after the first swing and punched low, hitting the ribs again. She got in three quick, consecutive jabs in the same spot and then punched with all her might right on Kat's chin.

Crystal shook her hand from the sting of the punch. Kat stumbled back, but didn't go down. In fact, she grinned. The punch had hardly phased her and Crystal's eyes grew wide when she realized how deep in trouble she really was. She wasn't going to win.

Seeing her opponent's weakness, Kat pounced. Crystal backed into the wall to get away and Kat had her right where she wanted her. A well placed punch to the gut had Crystal gasping. As she scrambled to put some distance between them, Kat grabbed her braid which had come lose, pulling Crystal back and she slammed her smaller opponent into the side of the cage.

Instantly Kat was on her, pounding her fists into Crystal's back. The crowd was roaring while Crystal's world was spinning in pain. Jazz wanted to look away, but his optics were glued to the scene. The match, it seemed, was over.

Kat picked up the smaller woman, lifting Crystal almost above her head. The crowd jumped from their chairs screaming and cheering. Prowl readied himself to witness the finishing blow. He knew this had been a bad idea from the start.

Ironhide, however, jumped to his feet, grabbing Prowl's shoulder. He saw something in the ring no one else noticed.

Kat hurled her opponent to the ground with all her might. At the last second, Crystal grabbed Kat's head, sending both hurling to the floor. Crystal landed on her back while she made sure Kat took the full brunt of the impact with her skull.

The room fell into a dead silence as both fighters hit the ground and lay lifeless at the bottom of the cage.

Crystal rolled away, coughing as she tried to get air back in her lungs. Her opponent didn't move. Kat Slacovka had been knocked out cold.

The crowd went wild. Even after the ref had raised Crystal's hand to announce the win, Kat's body still had not moved. The medic on the scene checked on Kat's passed out frame until finally, a very confused fighter came back into consciousness and was helped down from the ring.

Crystal stumbled down the stairs, still looking a bit punch drunk herself. Don helped her into a chair.

"Kid, you scared the hell out of me!" he barked at her.

"Scared ME," Crystal wheezed, taking water as it was offered. She guzzled it down and broke into another coughing fit.

"And Crys goes for the win!" Jazz cheered as he approached her. "How does that feel?"

Unlike his usual actions of climbing all over her, he merely stood next to her, touching her knee. As if afraid that any more contact would break her.

"Ask me in a few minutes when I can breathe again," Crystal wheezed. "Don, I need an ice pack."

"Seriously kid, that was a one in a million shot. It was amazing," Don said after he had returned. "You should really consider--"

"Just get me my money, Don," Crystal cut him off. "I need it now, I have to go."

"Sure kid. Right on that."

When Don left, Crystal handed the ice pack to Jazz. "Put it right here," she said, pointing between her shoulder blades.

Jazz pressed it to her back and she gasped at the cold and the pain. Jazz was about to remove it, but she insisted.

"Keep it there. My back feels like it's on fire."

At this point, the other Autobots had found her.

"Not bad for an amateur," Ironhide said. "Ya got some potential there."

"Thanks!" Crystal gave a forced grin. "Maybe they'll take me seriously next time." She flinched again in pain.

"Sorry," Jazz said.

"Next time better not be for a while," Prowl said in his usual calm tone as he began to remove the gloves and tape from her knuckles. "Going into a fight already damaged is never a good idea."

"No worries, I heal fast," Crystal assured him. "This will be gone in no time." She paused to count Autobots. "I think we're missing one." 

"Me Grimlock see fight!" a voice boomed as he pushed through the other Autobots. "Me Grimlock get front row seat! See you win!"

"Did you?" Crystal laughed as she picked him up.

"Yes! Me Grimlock think you not so weak as me first think! You fight bigger than you and win! Me guess is okay you afraid of small things."

"Well I'm glad you think so. Pew!" Crystal held him out at arms length. "You smell like smokes and beer."

"Humans try to give me Grimlock "weeds". What me Grimlock need weeds for? Have weeds all over Ark outside. Never need to smoke them. Me Grimlock not see point."

"Me neither, Grim." Crystal flinched as she removed the tape from her right hand.

Prowl was instantly looking at it. "What happened? Does it hurt?"

Crystal pulled it back and gingerly rubbed her knuckles. "It's from when I punched her. That woman has a jaw like granite. It's probably just bruised."

Don returned with another man in a suit and slicked hair.

"This is Jimmy. He's handling the finances of Mr. Russo, the man who owns this place and is running the show."

"So am I getting my money or what?" Crystal asked, not in the mood for small talk.

Jimmy smoothed his hair. "Mr. Russo would like to speak with you about tonight's performance."

Neither Prowl nor Ironhide liked his tone. It didn't sound like a request. Crystal either didn't notice or didn't care.

"So do you have my money or what? I was told a thousand if I win."

Jimmy didn't look impressed but he produced a wad of cash. "Here's 500. You get the rest after you talk to my boss."

Crystal took it from him. "Don, can you spot me 100? I have to go get my car out of the shop like now before it closes."

Don didn't move and actually looked at Jimmy for permission which confused Crystal.

"I really think you should--"

"Look, I'm sorry, but I really have to go," Crystal cut Jimmy off. "It's very important that I get that car out tonight. Tomorrow the place will be closed. It can't wait very long. But I can come back right afterwards if you want or you can talk to Don about it. He usually set up my fights."

Jimmy looked from one to the other. "Okay, fine. Come back right after. If not, we'll just talk to Donny over here."

He gave the other man a pat on the back which Done returned without any good humor. He solemnly pulled a hundred dollars from his wallet.

"Thanks Don! Just take it out of the rest of my winnings," Crystal called as she herded the Autobots out of the building.

* * *

A half an hour later, Crystal was trying to get her mechanic to stop gawking at the robots and give her a total.

"So what do you keep them for exactly?" he asked as he poked Grimlock's dinosaur mode. "Like, what do they do? Are they like those digital pet things?" His name tag said "Reggie".

Grimlock growled and snapped at him.

"Stop doing that," Crystal told him. "They're not animals. Treat them like people."

"People?" Reggie argued. "You can't be suggesting they're like us. They're just machines. They're programed to at like people, it's not the same as being alive."

Jazz, who was sitting on Crystal's lap, got his audios covered by her hands.

"Reggie, they can hear you! Don't talk about them like they don't understand you!"

"Crystal," Wheeljack said, touching her knee. "If this guy hasn't fixed your car yet, I'll do it."

"Oh you hear that, Reggie? Wheeljack here can even do your job. And I doubt he'll charge me for labor."

Reggie managed to look offended. "Well the car is already done. And I usually make customers pay up front. I did you a favor you know."

Crystal smiled. "I know and I appreciate it. A lot."

"Hey, there's something going on out the window," Blaster announced. "Someone take me over there."

"The radio talks, too?" Reggie demanded.

Ironhide picked Blaster up and climbed onto the work bench near the window. Crystal followed and peered outside.

"Ooh, they started the fireworks." She picked up Grimlock and put him on the bench so he could see as well.

"Many explosion," the Dinobot commented. "Who they fire at?"

"I want to go watch," Crystal announced. "Hurry and ring me up, Reggie."

The mechanic grumbled as he processed her total.

"Go watch the fireworks, Prowl," Crystal urged to the white Autobot that was always in her shadow. He seemed to be watching her even closer since her fight. "Go enjoy the beauty."

Prowl gazed over to where the other Autobots were ooing and awing out the window. He looked back up at her pragmatically. "It's fine. I don't need to see them."

Crystal pointed with finality. "I said ENJOY THE BEAUTY!"

Prowl made a sound something akin to a sigh. "Yes ma'am. Right away..."

Reggie leveled a look at her as Prowl walked away. "That's seriously quite a litter. How long have you had them?"

"Almost a week. I need the car to get them home."

Reggie grinned as he printed her a receipt. "Are they driving you nuts?"

Crystal glanced backwards to the group. "It's hard to get a moment to myself, but I'm sure I'm going to miss them when they're gone."

There was the buzz of engines overhead and the whole collection of Autobots sprang into action.

"Grab your keys, Crys, we've gotta go," Jazz insisted, pushing her calves to get her moving.

Prowl was leading the others outside.

Crystal shrugged at the mechanic. "Apparently I have to go. Thanks!"

She snatched her keys and pointed to a silver Corolla for the Autobots to get in. Prowl and Jazz shared the front seat while the rest clamored into the back.

"Drive," Prowl told her.

Crystal started the car. "Where?"

Jazz looked as serious as Crystal has ever seen him. "That way."

Crystal pulled out and drove in the direction indicated. It was dead silent in the car. All the Autobots were looking out of various windows for... something.

"What did you see?" Crystal asked in a soft voice.

"Seekers," was all Prowl said.

"They're searching for something," Jazz added. "Something close by."

Crystal's pocket buzzed as her cell phone went off and she dug for it while trying to drive.

"Hello?"

"Crystal, where are you?" Don's voice came over the line. "Are you coming back?"

"Sorry Don. It's taking longer than I thought, we--"

"They're circling!" Wheeljack announced.

"Crystal, turn left here! Quickly!" Prowl ordered.

Crystal ran a red light, almost cutting off traffic as she did what Prowl instructed.

"Whoops! I hope no cops saw that!"

"Crystal, what are you doing?" Don continued over the phone. "I need you to come back. You don't understand what--"

"Turn right here," Prowl said.

"Sorry Don, I really gotta go. I'll call you back."

"Wait! Crys--"

She flipped off her phone and tossed it in the front seat. The car swerved right and Crystal slammed on her breaks as a tall, slatted fence blocked her path. All four doors opened as everyone got out, searching the skies. Crystal wasn't exactly sure what they were looking for, but she could still hear the jet engines over head.

"Those seekers are hunting for something," Prowl said.

"Three guesses what it is," Jazz chimed in. "And the first two don't count."

"If Prime's out there, we gotta find him first," Ironhide told them. "Even if they are bigger than us, we can't let him fight alone."

"Agreed," Prowl nodded. "We're going to roll out, Autobots. Grimlock, as much as we may need you, you won't be able to keep up with us. You'll stay will Crystal and Blaster."

The Dinobot huffed loudly, arms folded. He was obviously not happy, but he couldn't argue Prowl's logic either.

"Is there a way I can track you?" Crystal asked. "Then I could at least be near by with the car; Grimlock, too."

"Hey, hey!" came Blaster's voice from the car. "I've got an idea. Jazz, c'mere." As attention turned to him, Blaster continued. "Crystal's cell phone. If you stayed connected to it, I can connect to it, too and know your position. It will be filtered through the satellite so the Decepticons won't know it's our signal."

Jazz snapped his fingers. "It will just look like a normal phone call! Blaster, you're beautiful, man."

"Woah Jazz, let's not get carried away now. The Blaster saves it all for the ladies."

"We're wasting time! Let's get going!" Ironhide urged.

Crystal was already by the fence, squatting with her hands clasped together. Wheeljack stepped on her palms and she lifted him to the top of the fence.

"Be careful," she said as she did the same for Prowl.

"Don't get too close," he instructed her. "Those planes are deadly. If you run into anything dangerous you let Grimlock handle it." As he hung from the top of the fence he added. "Don't get involved in this, I mean it."

"Yes, sir! Right away!"

"You know he only says that cuz he loves you," Jazz grinned as he was lifted over.

"JAZZ!" came a sharp bark from the other side and Jazz quickly jumped down.

Ironhide was the last one up.

"Quite a night for taking chances," Crystal remarked.

Ironhide paused at the top of the fence. Fireworks were still exploding in the sky behind him.

"Sure is," Ironhide grinned.

Then he was gone. Crystal heard the four Autobots transform and drive away. Then she got in her car and reached for her cell phone. It rang right away. Crystal frowned when she saw who it was on her caller ID.

"Don, not now," she told the phone and ended the call without answering it.

The phone rang again. This time it was Jazz. Crystal handed Grimlock the phone and Blaster as she backed out onto the road.

"It's do or die time now, Grim," she said to him.

"It no big deal," Grimlock assured her. "Just like last time. Crystal fight bit opponent. Crystal win."

She shook her head as she waited for Blaster's directions. "Boy I hope so."


	6. Day 5 Part Two: The New Prime

Small Problems

By: Ghost of the Dawn

Day 5- Part 2: The New Prime

"Tracks, this is Ratchet. Come in. What's your status."

"This is Tracks here," responded the Corvette as he sped up the freeway. "I'll be coming up on the New York City limits soon. I can see the fireworks from here and they look spectacular."

"Sunstreaker radioed me earlier this evening," Ratchet's voice responded. "His engine overheated and he's been further delayed. He's at least a day behind you Tracks, maybe more."

"His loss. He's going to miss the New York highlights. In hind sight, it may have been a good idea to do some internal systems checks before we left."

"WHAT?!" Ratchet's voice shrieked over the radio. The pitch was so shrill, Tracks skidded on the road from the feedback. "You were in the desert for over a week and the only thing you do when you come back is outer body work?! I swear there's not a single practical command between the two of you outside your own afts! When you get back to base I'm gonna--"

Laser fire suddenly peppered the road. The radio fizzled in and out as Tracks swerved to dodge it all.

"I'm afraid you'll have to threaten me another time, Ratchet. I'm under attack."

"Who is it? How many, Tracks?"

Tracks transformed and jumped to the side of the road, searching wildly for the source. Most of the laser fire came from behind trees or boulders. But then he caught a glace of Wildrider right in the open.

"Stunticons! From the amount of ammo fired at me, I'd say all of them!"

"Fall back, Tracks. You're outnumbered."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Tracks transformed, speeding away from the fire and then taking off into the air. He flew away faster than the group of Stunticons could drive. He purposely took a heavily uneven, off road direction, making it near impossible for even that group to follow.

Once a safe distance away, Tracks landed and transformed, pulling out his weapon. He was glad for his dark paint job. It would make him harder to find. He was silently glad Sunstreaker was not with him. Having the brightly colored road bound Autobot with him would not have helped at all.

"Tracks, what's your status?" Ratchet's voice came back to him.

"Still in one piece and looking stunning," Tracks sang back. "But those Stunticons are definitely going to be a problem. If I had to take a guess, I'd say there were put there to stop any Autobots from getting in the city. I'm sure I could easily get past them. Shall I do that or would you like me to rendezvous with Sideswipe and Bluestreak's team first?"

"Sideswipe and Bluestreak are already in the city."

Tracks paused. "Didn't they have the Dinobots with them? How did they pull that off?"

"You can ask them when you get there," Ratchet replied. "Sideswipe requested radio silence until morning. He definitely has something planned."

Tracks has to smile. "That red son of a glitch usually does. Though whether it's good or not is another matter entirely."

"Don't I know it. Be careful out there Tracks. Try to get in touch with that team and keep me posted. Ratchet out."

* * *

There was much Prowl would have given to be anywhere else but this. Despite millions of years of experience and training both with the Cybertron Defense Force and also with the Autobots, he was not prepared. As he led his small convoy through buildings and rouble, he tried to come up with a plan. They had a target of unknown location they needed to secure– preferably without being found by their very large enemies. Caution would be required.

"Jazz," Prowl radioed. "You're going to take Ironhide and be our stealth team. When we find Optimus Prime, it will be your job to get him out of here. Wheeljack and I will be distractions if necessary."

"No way, Prowl," Ironhide argued. "We're not gonna leave you two to the Decepticons just ta get Prime out. I know he'd agree if he were here."

"Well he's not," Prowl snapped back. "I appreciate the concern Ironhide, but you have to agree that the top priority is Prime. He cannot end up in Decepticon hands. The Autobots need him."

Ironhide silently conceded.

"Wheeljack, if you would rather not--"

"No way, Prowl. I'm with you."

"Good. Autobots, stay low. We've got both seekers and cassettes to deal with. We hit as fast and as silent as possible. This is a battle we have no hope of winning by force. I know this isn't usually our way, but if any trouble comes up, run and regroup."

"Gotcha, Prowl!" Jazz chimed in.

"But I don't have to like it," Ironhide added.

"No," Prowl agreed. "You don't."

Above them, through the buildings, they could see two seekers descending. The Autobots followed their path and cautiously moved as close as they dared to survey the scene. Thundercracker and Starscream were standing around while Ravage paced and growled outside a brand new building not yet open for business. There was energon dripping from the cat's jaws.

"Good boy, Ravage," Starscream said with approval in his voice. "It's about time we turned up something."

Ravage slunk towards the building.

"Ravage, get back here," Thundercracker barked

Ravage held back, but growled impatiently. Thundercracker turned to Starscream.

"Why don't we just blow the whole building? It will save us a lot of trouble."

"Don't be stupid," Starscream hissed back. "Megatron will want proof. He'll have us sifting through that mess for weeks. And even as small as he is, we both know Optimus Prime is very resourceful. He may survive the explosion. We need a body. Skywarp is bringing Rumble and Frenzy. We'll wait for them.

"Ravage, secure the parameter. Make sure he doesn't go anywhere until we're ready for him."

The panther's dark form slunk silently off into the night shadows. Prowl knew he was most dangerous in the darkness. They would have to keep an extra close watch out for the Cassetticon. Prowl motioned for Ironhide and Jazz to move to the building while he and Wheeljack remained outside.

The two swiftly and silently ran to the side and pressed against the foundation. Jazz scanned the darkness. His visor gave him much stronger vision than most, allowing him to see in several directions at once without turning his head. No motion could be detected. So far so good. Jazz kept a vigil while Ironhide looked for a way in. The brand new building was locked down tight.

"It's no use unless we break a window or something," Ironhide growled. "But that'll sure call the Decepticons to us."

Jazz nodded. He peeked around the corner and saw Ravage crouched by a broken glass door, optics glued to the opening his prey must have taken. The only reason he had not broken through himself was because of Starscream's order not to.

They needed a diversion if they ever wanted Ravage away from it. Jazz pulled back and motioned to where Prowl and Wheeljack were hiding. After getting their attention, he pointed in Ravage's direction. Prowl nodded and the two disappeared from sight. Moments later, Wheeljack's car form sped by and back into the night.

Ravage jumped to his feet and snarled in the direction the little Autobot had gone, but was not leaving his post.

"Come on," Jazz urged internally. "Take the bait..."

Wheeljack revved his engine in the darkness and then flickered his headlights. That was more than the metallic cat could stand and he bounded off. Jazz and Ironhide wasted no time running towards the door. Jazz could hear Starscream's shrill voice demanding what Ravage was up to as they slipped through the broken glass.

The building inside was newly carpeted and only partially furnished. There was electricity, but the elevator was not yet in service. And there was no sign of Optimus Prime. Near the stairs, they found traces of internal fluids and followed it up to the second floor. This one was full of cubicles and would have been near impossible to track where anyone was hiding except the trail of fluid led them right to the goal.

"Prime!" Ironhide gasped when he saw the figure slumped under a desk. There was a small stain of fuel pooling around him.

Optimus Prime raised his head and his optics flickered weakly as they ran to him.

"Ironhide... Jazz... Thank the matrix you're still alive. I've been searching all over for you."

"Worry about yourself, Boss," Ironhide shot back. "We're gonna get you outta here."

"It's pretty deep." Jazz pressed his hand to the large gash in Prime's side. It was obvious Ravage had gotten a hold of their leader. Jazz pulled back and his palm was covered in energon.

"This ain't good."

Ironhide put one of Prime's arms around his neck and hefted him to his feet with a soft groan from his leader. "Prime, can you transform at all?"

Optimus clutched at his wound with his free hand. "I can but... makes the wound worse. Lose more energy..."

Jazz ran to the window and looked down. As he feared, Ravage was right back at his post by the door.

"Can't go back that way..." Jazz's brain began to churn with possible plans. They needed another way to leave the building; one the Decepticons wouldn't expect or notice. One that would ensure Optimus got out in one piece.

Unfortunately, such a plan did not have the opportunity to present itself. Rumble and Frenzy were at the building entrance and they broke their way in within seconds. The shattering glass was heard on the second floor as Ravage lead the charge inside. It would take him no time at all to follow Prime's trail right to the Autobots.

Jazz called over Ironhide who was trying to weld the most vital part Optimus Prime's fuel lines back together. They would have to move fast.

The door to the second floor burst open as Rumble kicked it with gusto– arms still in pile driver mode. He was planning to make good use of them on whatever he found in there. Ravage began to run the tracking sensors in his snout over the floor.

"Come on out, Autobot," Rumble taunted. "You ain't scard 'a us, are ya?"

"I'm going to really enjoy this," Frenzy said in a lower voice.

Ravage quickly picked up the trail and made a bee line straight down a row of cubicles and growled outside one in particular. The twin Cassetticons stiffened, this was it. All three jumped out at once and found...

"What the slag is that?" Frenzy demanded.

The small, blinking apparatus certainly wasn't an Autobot. Behind the door Rumble had kicked open, Jazz pressed a detonator switch. The tiny round device flickered faster and then beeped as the three Decepticons watched it. Then it suddenly exploded in a shower of smoke and sticky dust.

"Frag it! What is this?" Rumbled demanded, stumbling blindly back. The debris from the explosion seems to stick to his skin and optics.

"I can't see!" Frenzy clawed wildly at the dust on his optics as Ravage snarled and tried to wipe his face on the carpet.

"That's our cue," Jazz said from behind the door. "Let's split."

He and Ironhide grabbed Optimus and hurried him down the stairs. They slipped out of the broken glass door and made a dash away from the building. Nearby, Thundercracker was trying to peek into the smokey, second story window to see what was going on.

"There they are!" Skywarp noticed the mini Autobots making their escape.

He charged them only to get the heavy steel of a wrecking ball in the chest, shattering his cockpit and knocking him into Thundercracker. Both fell into a heap.

"They've seen us! We gotta get out of here!" Ironhide announced.

Starscream came around the corner. "Optimus Prime!" he screamed at them.

Optimus pushed them away. "Leave me. Save yourselves."

"No way!" Ironhide insisted. "We ain't gonna do it! Come on!"

A tall blur dashed between him and Jazz, scooping up the inured Autobot leader with a "run guys!" As Starscream opened fire on them, they didn't need to be old twice. Jazz and Ironhide transformed and sped away as laser fire peppered around them.

Starscream moved to give chase, but the wrecking ball again swung back and clipped him in the wing. Starscream squawked and stumbled into the building.

"Who's doing that?" Ironhide wondered.

Crystal managed to give him a sideways glance while she ran with Optimus Prime securely in her arms.

"Who do you think?"

Jazz's senses picked up that it was Grimlock who was scrambling out of the cab of the wrecking crane.

"Subtlety never was his forte," he quipped.

As they ran for cover, an extremely angry Ravage bounded from the building and the seekers were starting to get up. Cover fire came from above, slowing Ravage down while the group tried to scramble up the hill.

"Get out of here! We'll cover you!" Prowl called.

"Jazz, go with them," Crystal told him. "I hid the car. Blaster can tell you where it is."

Jazz stared at her.

"GO!"

She grabbed Grimlock's hand and took off into the night. Ironhide followed her. Jazz turned around and fired at the Decepticons.

* * *

"Sideswipe."

The Lamborghini looked up from his work when Bluestreak called to him. The Autobot in question was standing outside the hanger, multicolored hues reflecting off his paint.

"Pretty lights," Swoop approved as he and the other Dinobots wandered out to look at the sky.

Sideswipe joined them.

The sparkling, multicolored melee of the Fourth of July fireworks climax exploded over the harbor. It reflected on the putrid water, making it glitter like a magic lake.

Sideswipe watched silent a moment and then clapped his hand on Bluestreak's shoulder.

"Glad you came, Blue?"

Bluestreak smiled at the red Autobot. "Yeah, I am."

* * *

Crystal cursed the fireworks show. It was brilliant and spectacular and made it nearly impossible to hide in the darkness. Right now, the only option they had was to run as far and as fast as they could. Which was not as fast as Crystal would have liked to go as she had a wounded Autobot in one arm and was holding Grimlock's hand with the other.

The little Dinobot was not the fastest runner and Crystal was practically dragging him behind.

"Let me Grimlock go!" he demanded as he twisted out of Crystal's trip. "Me Grimlock not run! Me Grimlock fight!"

He tumbled free and bounced back on his feet.

Crystal stopped in her tracks. "Grimlock!"

"Go! Me Grimlock find later! Crystal run!"

"But--" Crystal called as he ran off. She looked down for help. "Ironhide, don't let him go."

In vehicle mode, Ironhide bumped her calves to make her move forward. "You don't worry about him. Just go. He has a lot better chance than you do."

Reluctantly, Crystal started off again with Ironhide at her heels. She never had any run in with the Cassettes. The wall of Autobots kept them plenty distracted. The seekers, however, were going after the bigger prize.

Crystal instinctively ducked at the sound of the low buzzing jet engines, despite that they were still above the roof tops. She had never had a plane fly that close before. The rumble of the machines shook her to the core. As long as she stayed near building, Crystal hoped they couldn't get to her.

Ironhide transformed and looked to the sky. "Them slaggin' seekers know we're down here."

Crystal pressed her back against a building wall. "How are we gonna lose them?"

"Leave me behind," Optimus said weakly. "It–it's not worth..."

"Shush. You have no say in this," Crystal informed him. She turned to Ironhide. "Come on."

Ironhide transformed as Crystal ran off again, following on her heels.

"You got some sorta plan?" he wondered.

"Those jets are big, but we can use it to our advantage. Follow me."

* * *

"I've got them," Thundercracker radioed. "It appears they're with a human. They're making a bee line north east and--"

Thundercracker paused as he saw the girl and her robot companions run into a green house. The seeker banked right, swerving wide to turn around and get the building back in his sight.

"They're hiding in a small building. I don't see them exiting anywhere. I'm going down."

"We're right behind you," Starscream's voice radioed back.

Instantly, Skywarp was in the area, transforming as he hit the ground.

"They're in there, huh?" he said to Thundercracker who had also landed.

"I think so."

"Let's just torch it and get it over with," Skywarp announced, brandishing the laser riffle on his arm.

Starscream swatted him in the head as he landed. "Don't be brash, Skywarp. While I'm not fully opposed to your idea, we need to make sure no one gets out." He fired his null ray at the door, melting the exit shut. He moved to do the same to the door on the opposite end as well.

"But you said Megatron wanted evidence," Thundercracker reasoned.

Starscream frowned. "I'm changing my mind. Autobots that size are hardly evidence as they are. I'm sick of this chase. Megatron can pick out what parts he wants himself. Let's burn it."

* * *

There was an explosion in the distance, but Crystal was still running and she didn't dare look back. Who knew how much time her trick had bought them. Yes, they had gone into the green house, but the moment the jet had to turn around to come back, she had dashed back out the way she had come in and ran back in a direction that, she hoped, they weren't expecting to look.

Crystal suspected she had much to thank to the fact that the Decepticon seekers were used to tracking something much larger than herself. She ran until she was completely out of breath. Only when she couldn't pull herself a step further did she stop and fall to her knees, panting for air. She was still clutching the wounded Autobot leader to her chest as Ironhide rolled up and transformed.

"How's Prime doing?"

Crystal gently placed Optimus on the ground. Her shirt and pants were soaked from his wound.

"He hasn't really done much but lay there and bleed on me," she admitted.

Ironhide knelt next to his leader. "Ah tried ta fix him, but I'm no medic. We need ta get him to Wheeljack."

"I hope he and the others are okay," Crystal said, taking off her sweater. She had a tank top on underneath and tore the sweater into pieces.

"Nah, they'll be fine. A few Cassetticons won't stop them," Ironhide assured her. "We're built better than that."

Crystal gave him a smile as she wrapped Optimus' wound as best she could. He moaned as he was tended to and his optics flickered slightly before settling on the human tending to him.

"You," he said slowly, "Risk much to help my Autobots. I thank you."

"Don't sweat it," she replied lightly. "You've worked hard. Let us do the rest and you can thank us properly later."

* * *

The splashing of several footfalls echoed themselves through the sewer.

"Not one of your brightest ideas, Jazz," Wheeljack grouched.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it? All this junk is gonna make it mighty hard for those Cassetticons to track us now."

"Them maybe not feel like tracking after what me Grimlock do to them."

"We are the champions, my frieeeeend!" Jazz bellowed. "And we'll keep on fighting to the eeeend!"

"Jazz, keep it down," Prowl hissed. "We need to stay quiet."

"Not to worry, Prowl, we took care of those Decepticons good," Jazz grinned. "Besides, we're almost there. Once we find the car, we'll be out of here in no time."

Homing onto Blaster's signal, Jazz led them through the sewers and they surfaced near Crystal's car which was hidden as best she could in an alley.

"Wow! You guys look like you had an interesting time," Blaster's radio form greeted as they got in.

"We've definitely seen better days," Wheeljack replied in a tired voice.

"You guys find Prime?"

"Sure did!" Jazz said. "Crystal and Ironhide have him and--"

"And they're not back yet," Prowl finished with a worried frown.

"Nope," Blaster confirmed. "You guys are the only ones I've seen."

Prowl looked out the window into the night. "We should go looking for her."

"Oh yeah?" Wheeljack challenged. "And look where? We've got no way to know where they went."

"True," Jazz agreed. "I think she'll be fine. She's got Ironhide with her. We just need to wait."

Prowl frowned some more. Jazz knew he hated waiting. He hated any circumstance he wasn't able to control. But he stayed, as did the rest of them, and the car fell into silence. Minute after minute ticked by and still nothing.

One of the car doors clicked open.

"Grimlock, where are you going?" Wheeljack demanded. The Dinobot jumped out of the car. "Me Grimlock tell Crystal me find. So me Grimlock go to keep promise."

He had only made it a few paces from the car when Crystal's tired figure trudged out of the darkness. She carried a bundle in her arms and was shadowed by Ironhide who looked equally as tired.

"Me Grimlock come find," Grimlock told her.

"Thanks, Grim," she replied with a weak smile. She opened the front passenger door and Jazz moved to make room as Crystal lay down the motionless body of Optimus Prime on the seat.

"He doesn't look too good," she admitted.

"I'll decide how he looks," Wheeljack insisted as he pushed past Jazz and climbed into the front seat.

"I'll get us home as fast as I can. Hold onto him and stay out of site."

Crystal put a blanket over Optimus to hide him and Wheeljack while the others in the back huddled on the floor. Not that they expected Rumble or Frenzy to show up with a road block and inspect every car, but better to err on the side of caution at this point.

They reached the apartment without incident, everyone exhausted. Crystal reached over and gently picked up Optimus Prime and carried him up the stairs to the second floor. They were all looking forward to taking some time to rest and recover. But when they came to her number, Crystal stopped in surprise and fear. Her door was wide open and what little she could see of her apartment was not in good shape.

Prowl placed a hand on her leg, equally alarmed. "Crystal, stay outside. Wheeljack, stay with her. Autobots, fan out. Make sure it's secure."

The remaining Autobots pulled out their weapons and systematically went through the apartment. Crystal was dead silent outside, nervously looking around, her heart pounding. A while later Prowl came back out.

"It's empty. It's safe to come inside."

Crystal walked in, too in a daze to even lock the door behind her. She set Optimus on the couch and gazed around. The entire place was trashed. Nothing looked stolen, just destroyed. Her tv was shattered, furniture broken, cabinets stripped and torn from the wall and broken dishes all over the kitchen floor.

She worked her jaw up and down before finally coming up with the words to speak. "What... what the hell happened?!" she squeaked in a high voice.

"Do you think the Decepticons found this place?" Ironhide asked quietly.

"No," Prowl shook his head. "This isn't Decepticon work. Humans did this."

Crystal's phone hummed in her pocket and she quickly snatched it out.

"Don? Oh my gosh, Don! You won't believe what just happened to me! Someone just trashed my aparment–What?" She was cut off as the person she was talking to started going a million miles a minute in her ear.

"Don, slow down. What?" She plugged her other ear and moved away from the talking Autobots so she could hear better. Jazz followed after her.

"What you are talking about, Don? Look, I'm sorry I didn't come back. I had a situation. I thought it would be fine."

"What's he saying?" Jazz demanded. "What's going on?"

Mostly just to shut him up, Crystal picked him up and balanced him on her hip as if he were a toddler. Jazz didn't mind, as he usually didn't. In this position, he could press his audio to the phone and hear both sides to the conversation.

"Kid, I screwed up big," Don's voice was saying. "These guys are serious, big time. I swear I didn't know and they took it personal when you knocked out their prize fighter and then disappeared. You gave her a concussion, Crystal. She wasn't allowed to fight tonight and that one was the big one. You lost these guys a lot of money, Kid."

"Are you saying they're mafia or something? Were they the guys that trashed my place?" Crystal demanded, her voice rising.

"You mean they've been there? Kid, get out! Come stay at my place. I'll smooth everything out with them. I'm sure all they really want is for you to start fighting for them. When you knocked out Kat, that made you the new money maker now. I'll just talk to them and we'll work out some kind of deal--"

"No deal," Crystal said as she hung up her phone and turned it off.

By then, the other Autobots were wondering what the conversation was about. Crystal put Jazz down and looked at them, her expression betraying her fear. Then she looked at her destroyed home. Letting out a long breath, she set her mouth in a firm line.

"We're getting out of here. Now. Wheeljack, take anything in the apartment you can use to repair your friend. Gut any appliances you want."

"Right," Wheeljack saluted.

"Ironhide, help him."

"You got it, Kid."

"Prowl." Their gazes met for a moment before Crystal gave a dismissive motion in his direction. "Delegate. I want everyone in the car by the time I'm ready to go."

She ran down the hall to her bedroom. Jazz and Prowl looked at each other and then followed. They found her in the midst of a disaster zone that used to be her bedroom. It was just as bad with her bed turned upside down and clothes torn and scattered everywhere.

Crystal was stuffing everything that wasn't destroyed into a large duffle bag.

"Crystal," Prowl said. "Explain to me what's going on. Maybe we can help."

"Now is not the time, Prowl," Crystal grunted as she stuffed the bag. She moved to the bathroom and hastily packed everything she could get her hands on. "It's a little out of your hands with this. We need to get out of here. Grimlock?"

"What?" the Dinobot leader asked.

"Put this in the trunk of the car." She gave him the keys and hurried to fill another piece of luggage. Every once in a while she would make a sound when she found an object or article she was particularly fond of ruined, but otherwise, worked with fervor.

When she moved to the kitchen to pack whatever food supplies she could, she found Wheeljack had made short work of any electrical appliance he could get a hold of. Wires were strewn every which way and the inventor was shoving what he was keeping in a plastic bag. Crystal instructed Prowl, Jazz and Grimlock to take the rest of the luggage out to the car while she went to grab Optimus.

The Autobot leader had pulled himself up into a sitting position in attempt to see what was going on. Crystal sat down beside him.

"Sorry to keep hauling you around, but we have to go."

"You should to go the police," he told her weakly. "You could be in danger."

"I have to get you out of the city," Crystal argued. "We'll worry about this later and you're hardly in a position to tell me what I need to do."

"These are... my troops," Optimus told her. He was fading. "I am... Prime and I..."

"Oh, not today," Crystal interrupted. "Today, I am Prime and you have no say until you're better." With that, she scooped him up and headed for the door.

Before stepping out, Crystal took one last look at her ruined apartment. Most of her possessions had been ruined. Sure, it was just stuff, but it was her stuff and it was all she had. Worst of all, something in the back of her mind told her she would not be coming back. She took a deep breath to steel herself and then ran downstairs for the car.

Below, Prowl had done what was asked and had all the Autobots gathered and ready to leave. Crystal placed Optimus in the back seat so Wheeljack could work on him while they drove. She then went to get in the driver's seat when a man's voice called to her.

"Ms. Carlyle, we need to have a word with you."

Crystal froze and slowly turned around to see two men in suits approaching the car.

"Mr. Russo was a bit offended when you didn't come back to see him."

Crystal's mind whirled with arguments and excuses. But she knew none of them would matter. These men were sent specifically to give her a message. They would not be dissuaded by anything she had to say so Crystal stayed silent.

"You're not thinking of leaving town, are you?"

The second man frowned. "I think you need to come with us instead."

At that remark, the first man felt something press against the side of his temple. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a white and black figure about the size of a small child standing on a pile of boxes and pressing a gun to his head.

The second man balked in surprise.

"What the--"

"Don't move unless you want to say good-bye to your knee caps," Wheeljack said, pressing his blaster against the back of the thug's knees.

"What the hell is this?" the first man demanded. "You can't expect us to believe--"

Prowl shot at the ground, making both men jump. They stared at the smoking hole in the concrete as Prowl returned his blaster to the first man's head.

"They are real, I assure you," Prowl told him. "But I swear you will not get hurt if you kindly remove your weapons and hand them to my colleague over there. Communication devices as well."

Both men slowly removed a hand gun and a cell phone each and dropped them at Ironhide's feet.

"Mah metal detector says ya got one more," he insisted of the second man. "Give it up."

When Ironhide had gathered them all, he promptly crumpled and bent the devices in his hands.

"Crystal, get in the car," Prowl said calmly, not taking his optics off the man in front of him.

Crystal did as she was told, shutting the door behind her. Slowly, the rest of the Autobots got in as well. Prowl was still outside, watching the two men as Crystal pulled out into the street.

Prowl put his weapon away and nodded to the Dinobot leader. "Grimlock."

Grimlock transformed into dinosaur mode and spat a neat line of fire right at the toes of the men who jumped and backed away.

The remaining two Autobots ran for the car and Crystal drove off as fast as she could. The two men were left with a dying fire and wondering what they were going to tell their boss.

* * *

Crystal sped through the narrow New York streets as fast as the traffic would allow. Jazz, who was sharing the front with Grimlock, noticed she was gripping the steering wheel so hard it was turning her knuckles white.

"Crys, you doing okay?"

Crystal swerved wildly into another lane to pass up the car ahead of her.

"Not now, Jazz," she said in a strained voice. "I'm trying to get out of the city before anything else happens."

Jazz looked ahead. "Crys! Red light! Red light!"

Crystal slammed on her breaks, jostling around the two Autobots in front. Wheeljack and Ironhide held onto Optimus while Prowl grabbed Blaster.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Crystal cried. "Everyone okay?"

"Just pay attention while yer're driving!" Ironhide shot back.

Crystal kept quite as the light turned green and she pressed on the gas, slower this time. The group made it out of the city and onto the sparse traffic of the late night freeway. Inside the car it was silent. The only sounds were from Wheeljack welding on Optimus Prime's broken circuits in the back seat. A pale blue light flickered from the repair, but Crystal tried to keep her eyes on the road.

For two hours she didn't say a thing, nor did anyone else. The car radio played low, late night music and everyone sat in silence. Finally, Crystal pulled over at a gas station to fill her tank. The Autobots were all left in the car while she stood at the pump, blankly watching the numbers roll.

The pump clicked it was done and Crystal continued to stand there her expression blank. A few pairs of blue optics watched her curiously, wondering what she was doing. Slowly she slid down the side of the car until she was sitting on the ground.

Prowl and Ironhide were peaking over the edge of the window, trying to see her and figure out what to do. Jazz was already climbing out of the passenger door. He walked around the car to find Crystal crouched quite pathetically with her knees to her chest and her hands clutching her hair.

"Hey Crys, uh... how you holding up?" he asked as he tentatively approached her.

Crystal's fingers dug deeper in her scalp. "Just having a little bit of a panic attack here..." came her muffled, strained voice. "I've got giant jets and mafia members trying to kill me. And now I'm out in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of mini robots in my car, trying to trek across the continent." Her voice continued to rise with panic. "This is not how I pictured it would go, Jazz!"

Jazz pushed her head up with authority, wedging himself between her face and her knees and pried her hands out of her hair.

"Hey, don't freak out on us now, okay? We need you. We're past the hardest part. I know this wasn't the plan, but if we can all make it back together, everything will be okay, I promise."

Crystal stared at him, her face hanging in his hands. Then her shoulders sagged and she dropped her forehead to the white four on Jazz's chest, sighing heavily. Jazz, with lack of knowing what else to do, patted her head.

"You did good, Crys," he told her in a softer voice. "It's going to be okay."

Crystal lifted her head. "We should probably get on the road," she said softly, though she looked tired.

She picked Jazz up as she stood and took him with her, depositing him in the passenger seat as she slid in through the driver's side. There was a pregnant pause as she stared out the windshield, but then finally started the car.

"You should look for a place to rest for the night," Prowl said from the back. "It's getting very late."

Crystal looked at him through the rear view mirror. "That sounds like a good idea."

They drove for a half an hour more before stopping in front of a small town motel. The Autobots waited in the car as Crystal got herself a room with a single bed. Then she came back to grab her things and carry Optimus inside.

"So what's the verdict on our patient?" she asked.

"Well, he's as fixed as I can manage with the tools I've had to work with," Wheeljack said. "But he's lost a dangerous amount of energy. If anyone has any spare energon rations, now's the time to bring them out."

As everyone checked their personal supplies, Crystal decided she was done smelling like motor oil and gasoline and jumped into the shower. She hissed as the hot water spilled over her back and all her new injuries. Her hand had been throbbing ever since the fight and she had put it aside until now. She rubbed it with a hand that was starting to shake violently as she allowed the full gravity of the situation to hit her.

All strength seemed to leave her body and she fell to her knees. The world seemed to be swimming around her and all her internal horror was drowned out by the thrumming of the water.

Crystal emerged silently from the bathroom in her pajamas. The full realization of the night's escapades appeared to be weighing fully on her and most of the Autobots noticed. She trudged to the bed and slowly climbed in, taking car not to disturb Optimus laying on the other side. The Autobots looked at each other, but otherwise didn't say anything. Crystal curled up on her side with her back to them and let out a slow breath.

She didn't know when she had fallen asleep. All Crystal recalled was waking up in the dark, heart pounding as if something were after her. It took her a moment to take in the shadowed, unfamiliar surroundings and remember where she was and what had happened. She sat up feeling groggy and disoriented. Her head was pounding and heavy, her mouth felt full of cotton balls. Her shirt was soaked in sweat.

She weakly got up and used the bed as a guide as she felt her way over to her travel bag on the floor.

"Is everything okay?" asked Prowl's calm voice from the darkness.

"I'll be fine," Crystal croaked. Her hands were fumbling and weak in the dark.

She dug through her bag for a spare T-shirt, then shed her sweat-soaked one. There was a line of moonlight streaming in through a crack in the curtains. Prowl could see the heavy bruising on her bear back before she put a new T-shirt on.

Crystal got up and gingerly made her way back to the bed. Prowl, noting her movements, followed her and climbed up on the bed as she got in. As she lay staring at the ceiling, Prowl sat cross legged next to her. Crystal turned her head to look at him, thinking back to how he was always her ever present shadow, always behind her through everything. It made her wonder about him.

"Prowl?"

He reached out to touch her forehead. She jerked from the contact, but then relaxed again.

"Your body temperature is higher than what my research says is healthy," he told her matter of factly. "You need to rest."

"Prowl," Crystal repeated as if she hadn't heard him. "You're real, right?"

Prowl just looked at her, confused at the question.

"You're alive. You're not just a machine– a robot. You're real."

"Yes," Prowl said lowly as he leaned in closer. "I'm real."

"Prove it to me," Crystal whispered, desperation in her voice. "Prove to me that I didn't just risk it all for nothing. Prove to me I really saved a life."

Prowl didn't know what to say. He never had to prove his existence before. How could one come up with logical, solid evidence one was alive aside from being one's own self? There was none he could think of. Instead, the only response he could come up with was to pick up where he left off from the last night he sat in bed with her.

"_'Who are you?' said the Caterpillar._

_This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, 'I hardly know, Sir, just at present– at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have changed several times since then...'_"


	7. Day 6: Crash

Small Problems

By: Ghost of the Dawn

Day Six: Crash

In the quiet moments before dawn, when the sun was barely beginning to tint the sky with color, Megatron was not happy. Starscream had returned parading like a peacock that he had ended the existence of the great, but tiny, Optimus Prime in a bright ball of fire. Despite the lack of additional Autobot casualties or presence of a body, he insisted that it had been a sure victory for all Decepticon kind.

Megatron did not agree.

"It's hardly my problem that you refuse to celebrate this victory with us," Starscream huffed. It seemed inconsequential to him that Thundercracker and Skywarp had made themselves scarce.

Megatron snatched Starscream by the throat, lifting him off the ground. "There is no victory," he growled. "Optimus Prime is alive. I can FEEL him!"

Despite Starscream's precarious situation, he managed to look disgusted at Megatron's statement.

"Megatron," Soundwave warbled as he approached. "Transmission from the Stunticons."

Megatron threw Starscream to the ground. "It's about time they checked in." He stormed toward the communication screen and barked "Report!" as he turned it on.

Drag Strip's disinterested face popped on the screen. "Hey Megs, just thought we'd let you know we saw an Autobot try to get into the city earlier."

"How many? Who was it?"

Drag Strip picked at his nose. "I dunno, that blue one that can fly. But we chased him off."

Megatron scowled. "No doubt that didn't stop him from taking a different route. How long ago did this take place?"

The Stunticon shrugged. "Like... a couple of hours ago."

"A couple of hours?!" Megatron was steaming. "Why didn't you say something before?"

Drag Strip shrugged again.

Megatron growled as he clenched his shaking fists on the control panel; then paused as a thought occurred to him.

"Optimus Prime is no longer in the city," he declared to no one in particular, then turned back to the screen. "Stunticons, patrol all exit routes back to the Autobot base. Find Optimus Prime!"

At that point, Motormaster pushed his way in front of Drag Strip's communicator.

"Megatron, you're talking about searching an entire country of freeways. We can't--"

"Do it!"

Megatron cut the transmission and turned to Starscream. "You and your seekers will go as well. Find him."

Starscream was obvious in his attempt to remain silent as he turned and walked out.

* * *

Crystal shifted in her sleep, an unexpected weight beside her. It was solid and metallic, but warm, and so she curled up against it. Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up when she realized she had been cuddling the blue and red form of Optimus Prime.

"Your body temperature was high, but you were shivering," came a matter-of-fact voice from the end of the bed. Crystal glanced in that direction to see Prowl studying her. "I thought it would be better to keep you near something warm."

Crystal didn't comment. Instead she got up and made her way quite unsteadily toward the bathroom. Upon reaching for the doorknob, she pulled back in pain and opened the door with her left hand instead. She went inside without shutting it and the roaring of the bathtub water was heard soon after.

"Optimus, how are you feeling?" Wheeljack asked as he climbed onto the bed as well.

Optimus touched the gash that still decorated his side. "I believe most of the damage is repaired thanks to you, Wheeljack. However, I'm very low on energy."

"We all are," Prowl admitted. "If we don't get back in a day or two or if we have another battle, we might not make it."

At that point, Optimus requested to be filled in on what had happened in his absence. Although Wheeljack wasn't the best one to give the report, Prowl was already off the bed and heading toward the bathroom.

He found Crystal on the floor, leaning on the tub's basin with one arm in the water. She looked as though she had fallen asleep again and Prowl had to climb over her long legs to get close enough to see the face that was buried under her wild bed hair. She looked up at he peered at her.

"What's your status?" he asked her seriously.

"Status?" she wondered, still looking drunk from sleep.

"What is your... physical condition?" Prowl tried again.

Crystal lifted her hand from the hot water and tried to flex the fingers, flinching at the pain. "I think my hand's busted from the fight."

Prowl thought it over, looking uncertain. "Can you... repair it?"

"Not as such, but I can wrap it and it should hold for now." Crystal sniffed and shivered a bit. She was not happy to realize she was catching a cold, adding to all her physical aches and pains.

"Don't worry about it Prowl. I'll take care of it. Just get out so I can get dressed."

When she emerged later in a sweater and jeans, the Autobots present had to admit she was looking as haggard as they had ever seen her. Her eyes were a bit bloodshot and the side of her face had swollen where she had been punched the night before.

Prowl started after her. "Crystal, are you-"

She waved him off as she stumbled in the dim light toward the door.

Outside, around her car, more heads popped up. Ironhide and Jazz had kept watch all night. Grimlock hadn't exactly been helping, but he was nearby and ran up to Crystal in dinosaur mode as she emerged.

"Crystal, me Grimlock practice hunting prey like car-ni-vor! Me catch rats and-"

Crystal reached out and clamped his muzzle shut. "Sh-shu-shu," she cooed gently. "No my pet. It's too early."

"But me Grimlock-"

"Too early," Crystal insisted in a more forcible hiss.

She then started toward the street. Across the road was a gas station. As she walked, she noticed that, as usual, she had a mini Autobot trailing her. This time, however, it was neither Prowl nor Jazz.

Optimus Prime fell in step with her as she waited for the traffic light to signal them to cross. The two stood in silence for a moment. Crystal had had no previous conversation with this one. She wasn't really sure what to say to him, nor was she feeling up to the challenge in her current condition.

"We can cross now," Optimus Prime stated as the walk light lit.

Crystal didn't even know she had drifted off until he had said something and she quickly moved to cross. Once inside the gas station, Crystal grabbed herself an orange juice and a muffin for breakfast before aiming for the small collection of pharmaceuticals the store had to offer.

"What are you looking for?" Optimus wondered.

"Something of the non-drowsy variety. I don't want to admit it, but I'm sick as a dog and we've got a long drive ahead of us."

"I'm sorry."

"Meh, I'll survive." She sniffled noisily and frowned at the selection. After a while she picked out a few more items and headed for the counter.

The cashier, an older man, eyed Crystal strangely as he rang her up.

"Forgive me for saying so Miss, but you look like you were on the losing end of a fight."

Crystal coughed. "You got it half right. But I won. Now how much is it?"

The cashier continued to look at her dubiously. "12.02."

Crystal checked her cash. "Darn, no change. Hey Shorty, you got two cents?"

Optimus looked up at her. "I... do not have any human currency."

Crystal grumbled as she paid. "You don't even have two cents? What good are you, Optimus Prime?"

Optimus just stared at her as the cashier stared at him and adjusted his glasses. "Optimus Prime? You mean the leader of the Autobots? He looked so much bigger on TV."

"Tell me about it," Crystal replied as she grabbed her bag of items and left.

Once outside she sat on the curb and began digging through her bag. The best thing she had been able to find for her injury was medical tape and she immediately opened it and started wrapping her hand. The pain was getting worse. The night before Crystal had thought she had simply bruised it, but she'd come to suspect the hand might be broken. It was just one more worry that she didn't need.

Optimus Prime sat beside her, waiting patiently for her to finish.

"I'm sorry it took us so long to find you," Crystal stated.

Optimus waved off the apology. "Do not worry about it. I'm just glad I was found."

"Me, too," Crystal agreed. "Everyone would have felt bad to leave you in the city."

"I would not have faulted any of you for doing so. You would simply have done what was necessary."

Crystal rested her good hand on the top of his head. Optimus stiffened at the contact. No one had ever done that to him before.

"Still," Crystal insisted. "I am sorry. I know going at it alone is a very frightening way to live."

With that, she got up and headed to the crosswalk. Optimus said nothing as he followed. Though he did not plan on telling his troops what he had gone through those past couple of days, it was nice to know that someone recognized the difficulties he had endured.

It was definitely an experience he had not been accustomed to. Not just his new size, but the absolute loneliness of it all. He couldn't even recall in his memory banks the last time he had gone it all alone. There was never need for that. No matter the mission, he had always been surrounded by his fellow Autobots. Their company had always been a constant no matter where he went. Alone for days without knowing where the others were or what he should do to find them, he had felt truly lost.

As they waited again for the light, Crystal asked "So, be straight with me, Optimus Prime. How long could you guys last without getting home?"

Optimus paused significantly.

"Don't even think of lying to me now," Crystal warned. "I'm not in the mood for it."

"Two days, maybe less. Significantly less if we have any more battles."

Crystal sighed as they crossed the road. "Even if I were at my best, I doubt I could do it in two days."

Optimus folded his arms as he walked. "I am deeply sorry you got involved in this."

Crystal harrumphed at the apology. "They were my decisions. You were missing or unconscious when I made them. Besides, your Autobots saved my life last night. So you're really in no place to be sorry for what's been happening to me."

"You're very blunt," Optimus accused.

She shrugged. "Just taking responsibility for my actions. No one decides what happens to me but me."

By then they were back at the motel. Prowl sat on the nose of her car with Jazz. Crystal handed him a road map, saying, "For you," before continuing inside to her room. Without shutting the door, Crystal flopped facedown on the bed and stayed there as Grimlock climbed all over her and chatted about his night while Wheeljack told him to stop.

Optimus stayed outside as Jazz and Prowl unfolded their new map and looked it over. He glanced over at the room and then back at his two seconds.

"She is not well, is she?" he asked.

"No, she isn't," Prowl confirmed, not looking up from his map.

"And she is injured."

"She is." He paused, "But she is safer with us. And if she can take us further west, I believe we can meet her halfway. Ratchet must have a team returning with Skyfire by now. We just need to get far enough away for it to be safe to radio him. It'll be at least a day's drive, maybe more depending on how our energy resources hold up."

Only then did Prowl look up toward the open door. "If she can make it one more day, I think we can do the rest."

"Let's get her up then," Jazz announced as he slid off the car. "The sooner we go, the more distance we put between us."

Optimus and Prowl nodded and all moved to put their plan into action. It took a while to get Crystal up again. She insisted on more sleep. So the Autobots did all her packing for her and put everything back in the car before dragging her off the bed. Crystal stumbled toward the driver's seat, noticing there was someone already occupying it.

"Haven't heard from you in a while," she told Blaster as she sat the radio in her lap while she buckled her seatbelt.

There was a pause before Blaster responded. "Wheeljack took all my energy reserves. He said I wouldn't use any energy if I didn't talk."

Crystal raised an eyebrow at the ruthlessness of the inventor and then decided to herself that maybe it was just as well. She handed the radio to the Autobots sitting in the back seat. For a minute longer Crystal sat there, sighing and resting her forehead on the steering wheel. The Autobots began to look around at each other, wondering what to do.

For a moment, it looked as though she was ready to call the whole thing off. But then she looked up and stared for a moment at the tiny silver chime hanging from her rear view mirror. She poked it with a finger and the chimes made hardly a sound at all.

That noise caught Optimus Prime's attention. He remembered those. The night before, when he was laying in the front seat bleeding, all he saw were the passing lights of the city and those chimes. Something about them felt profound to him though it took him a while to access his memory banks to remember what it was.

Whatever it was, it seemed to have an affect on Crystal as well. She managed to summon some extra energy and they were off on the road again.

* * *

Sideswipe's plan was working. Bluestreak wasn't sure how, but it was. Two Autobots and four Dinobots were making their way through the city. It was slow, but without any notice or city-wide panic which, Bluestreak had to admit, was the best possible result. The presentation, however, was still quite ostentatious.

They were disguised as a float from the previous day's parade. The Dinobots were on a flatbed, standing as still as they possibly could, decorated with gaudy streamers and plastic flowers, while the two Autobots towed them through the city streets.

Despite the parade being the day before, Sideswipe insisted they could pretend they were relocating one of the floats. So far it seemed to be working, despite the fact that no one remembered seeing a flowery Dinosaur float in the Fourth of July Parade. That and, unknown to Bluestreak, they were giving off a rather rank odor whose putrid stink was unique to the foul harbor in which they had swum the night before.

So far the only glitch in the plan was that they had yet to spy any sign of either Autobot or Decepticon. That worried Bluestreak. Their convoy wasn't exactly hard to miss. While the humans may not have realized what they had in their midst, either faction would have recognized them on sight. The lack of response to their presence was not encouraging.

One block away, Mr. Yamada was enjoying his first vacation to America with his wife and son. They were going to visit the Statue of Liberty later that afternoon, but until then they were content to roam the city and take pictures.

They stood outside Central Park. Mrs. Yamada and her son Kenji were smiling as Mr. Yamada took their picture.

Just as the camera flashed, Kenji raised his hand and pointed toward the street. "Chichi, sore o minasai."

Mr. Yamada looked and saw the flowery plastic horror slowly coming their way. The family made sounds of fascination as Mr. Yamada snapped some pictures.

"Nioi wa nan desuka?" Mrs. Yamada wondered, grabbing her nose and making a face at the stench.

As the camera flashed, Sludge turned his head from the irritating light. Kenji, eyes wide, gestured frantically at the Dinobots.

"Haha! Karera was ugokimawatta!"

Mrs. Yamada did her best to assure her son that they were probably just mechanical and not live beasts. Mr. Yamada, curious, approached Sideswipe and knocked on his window. His English was poor, but he tried to find out about the float.

Sideswipe, however, was listening intently to his family speak and was searching his language files for a match.

"Kounichiwa! Hajimemashite," Sideswipe sang at the startled man.

At that point, Slag finally got fed up with standing still and slammed a foot on the flatbed, denting it considerably.

"Sideswipe stop talking strange!" he demanded. "Make sense now!"

At that cue, the rest of the Dinobots came to life in front of the terrified Yamadas' eyes.

"Me Snarl no see Grimlock anywhere."

"Me Sludge no see Grimlock, too."

"Autobots lie to Dinobots! Me Slag say Dinobots go look for Grimlock ourselves!"

Mrs. Yamada screamed and grabbed her son as the Dinobots clamored off the flatbed and ambled toward them, not giving the humans any notice.

"Hashitte!" Mr. Yamada told his family as he grabbed them and retreated as fast as he could. "Hashitte! Gozira! Gozira!"

The two Autobot cars stayed where they were as general panic began to spread in the wake of the Dinobots.

"So... what should we do now?" Bluestreak asked.

Sideswipe was quiet for a moment. "Kuroo o deshite."

* * *

They had been driving for a few hours. Crystal stayed hunched miserably in the driver's seat. All her good humor was gone. The meager breakfast she had bought had barely been touched and she had hardly spoken a word except when spoken to.

Prowl and Optimus Prime were in the front with the road map. Prowl found it expedient to point out every entrance and exit Crystal had to take; otherwise they'd stray off course. They were lucky she was still managing to pay attention to traffic.

Crystal swerved unexpectedly to the side of the road and stopped the car, turning it off.

"I need a break," Crystal announced in a rough voice.

She unbuckled herself and Autobots scrambled to get out of the way as she climbed into the back seat and curled up with her blanket.

"I need to sleep just for an hour. Wake me in an hour," she mumbled.

Ironhide looked a bit put out that they had lost the majority of their sitting space, but Jazz was already solving the problem. He climbed on top of her, straddling her waist while leaning toward her ear.

"You want one of us to drive?"

"No."

Jazz slid down to sit next to her, leaning against her stomach.

"Why not? We're technically cars ourselves. I could totally do it. I would just need someone to push the pedals and--"

Crystal palmed his head and pushed it toward the seat. "I said no! Prowl, take the keys. No one drives this car."

Prowl reached for them reflexively, but then paused. He stopped to look at Optimus Prime who had not given him an order either way. Prowl had been so used to taking orders from the human, he had forgotten his commanding officer was present. And yet...

Optimus Prime watched as Prowl eyed him carefully while he continued to lean toward the keys as if Optimus was going to tell him to stop at any moment. Prowl leaned further and suddenly snatched the keys and quickly scrambled into the already crowded back seat for safety. The Autobots currently back there protested at having to make room for another. Optimus watched in confusion as Ironhide and Wheeljack climbed into the front seat for some leg room.

"Looks like Prowl needs to visit the Doc when we get back," Ironhide brooded in the driver's seat. "He seems to be glitching a bit."

"Nah, he's fine," Wheeljack assured them as he began poking around curiously in the glove box. "It's just his battle computer. It gives him the overwhelming urge to follow the orders of the highest ranking authority figure without question. I guess right now, considering our current condition, Crystal ranks higher than you do, Prime."

Optimus looked at him and Wheeljack instantly added, "Of course, that will change the second we're back to normal."

Ironhide huffed as he propped his feet on the steering wheel. "Doesn't he have one a them crazy government experimental computers? Why don't ya tell him ta toss it an' get a normal one?"

"Ratchet and I both have offered a couple of times," Wheeljack said. "He wants to keep it."

"And it's entirely his choice," Optimus put in. "Prowl must certainly have his reasons for it."

Ironhide huffed again. "Ah guess if he likes everyone thinkin' he's a glitch head, it's up to him."

"I AM just in the back, you know," Prowl's indignant voice barked at them.

Time drifted lazily by while Crystal slept. The interior of the car stayed quiet for the most part. Optimus Prime, Wheeljack, and Ironhide conversed in low tones while Blaster, for once, kept to himself. It seemed Wheeljack's threat had stayed with him. Prowl still camped on the floor of the back seat while Grimlock's dinosaur mode snuggled in Crystal's arms while she slumbered.

Jazz had managed to squeeze into the small space between the rear window and the top of the seat where he lay on his back, enjoying the sun shining down on him. For no reason he could fathom, Jazz suddenly felt compelled to turn his head and watch the freeway traffic. After a few moments he saw something that sent him scrambling.

"Blaster! Turn on your radio, man! Every frequency! Hurry!"

He fell on Crystal, who squeaked in response to being bothered. But Jazz continued to crawl to the floor and shake the Autobot radio.

"Blaster!"

"Dude, I hear you! Be cool!" Blaster snapped back. "I'm on all frequencies."

"Jazz, what's going on?" Prowl asked.

Jazz handed Blaster to Prowl so he could climb on the seat and peer at the oncoming traffic.

"Wait for it..." he said cryptically.

The car was dead silent. Every Autobot was watching Jazz and the window. The seconds ticked by.

Prowl looked down at Blaster. He wasn't sure what Jazz was after but he knew, even at this distance, the Decepticons would pick up Blaster's signal and that made him nervous every moment the radio was broadcasting.

"Anything, Blaster?"

"No response yet, Prowl."

A minute went by, then two, then three.

Jazz made a whooping noise and hurried to open the passenger door, almost dumping himself out on his face in his haste.

Ironhide rolled down the window and he, Optimus, and Wheeljack all stuck their heads out, hardly believing their optics. Pulling up behind Crystal's car was a bright yellow, and quite confused Lamborghini. He had no idea why an ordinary human car was emitting several Autobot frequencies, but he was about to find out.

"Sunstreaker!" Jazz greeted as he ran up to him. "Man, are we glad to see you!"

"You gotta be slaggin' me!" Sunstreaker shot back. "Is this for real? What the hell happened?"

"Give us a ride home and we'll tell you everything," Jazz grinned.

Sunstreaker gave a sound akin to a sigh. "Sure. It's not like I just drove across the slagging country and now I'm going back again."

"That's the spirit! I'll go get everyone."

As Jazz ran back to the vehicle that wasn't a sentient robot from outer space, Optimus and Ironhide got out and approached Sunstreaker.

"You look like scrap, Prime. This is going to be one interesting story."

"Indeed. And you have perfect timing, Sunstreaker. We badly need your help."

"Well you know me. My timing is impeccable and- what is that?"

Jazz was leading a frumpy, bleary-eyed human girl from the car and taking her by the hand over to him.

"Oh no," Sunstreaker protested. "I am not carting around organic matter inside my flawless--"

Crystal bent down to lay against his hood, pressing her cheek to the warm metal. "You," she told him, "are the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen in my life."

"Yes, well..." Sunstreaker stumbled, "Who am I to deny someone with such a great eye for perfection?"

Jazz shot Optimus a thumbs-up. Prowl was helping Crystal into the back seat.

"But all my stuff…" she worried.

"We'll pack it for you," Optimus assured her. "Get some rest."

"What about my car? I just paid for it. I can't leave it here."

"I will send someone back for it, I promise. But we need to get going."

Crystal relented with a sigh and lay down in the back seat. Grimlock climbed up to wriggle into her arms again.

Prowl got right to work organizing the other Autobots to pack what they could in Sunstreaker's modest trunk space. The yellow Autobot complained only a little bit and was ignored as they got to work.

When Crystal's trunk was empty, Prowl happened to notice Optimus climb into the front seat and grab the chime hanging from the rear view mirror. Prowl decided that then was not the time to ask about it. He locked the car and climbed into Sunstreaker's interior with the rest of them. The Autobots were on their way back home.

* * *

Ratchet almost hit his head as Teletraan's screen beeped. He crawled out from under Skyfire's large hull where he had been repairing jet's engines. Brawn flipped on the screen as Ratchet approached.

Tracks appeared onscreen with New York City behind him. "This is Tracks reporting in. I've made it inside the city and located Sideswipe's team." He muttered under his breath, "They weren't hard to find."

"Good," Ratchet acknowledged. "Any sign of our missing party?"

"Strangely enough, Ratchet, neither they nor the Decepticons have shown themselves. However, that may not be our biggest problem."

Both Brawn and Ratchet looked confused.

"What do you mean?" the medic asked.

"Well, it's--"

Behind Tracks, fire spewed into the background, followed by screaming people, then by confused, fire-breathing Dinobots. Sideswipe ran in the frame as Bluestreak pounced on him. The grey Datsun grabbed the red Lamborghini by the throat and began to throttle him like a rag doll, screaming, "You're so stupid! You're so stupid!"

Tracks winced at the scene.

"I've got to go. Backup would be appreciated."

"Tracks, wait," Ratchet tried, but the connection was already cut and a new Autobot signal was streaming through. This one was voice only, indicating the one sending it was in vehicle mode.

"Sunstreaker reporting in. You won't believe this Ratch, but I've got them all and I'm heading back to base."

"I didn't see that one coming," Brawn mumbled.

"All of them?" Ratchet asked, hardly believing the news.

"Oh yeah. Optimus, Prowl, everyone. I'm taking them back to the base right now. But I'd love it if Skyfire could meet me partway. None of them are in any shape to fight and I'm sure Decepticons will be on my tail soon enough."

"They can't fight? How damaged are they?"

"Well... I wouldn't say damaged. But trust me; they're not exactly able to take on Megatron. You'll understand when you see them. Any way possible for us to get back to base sooner would be great."

Brawn looked at Ratchet. "What do you think he means about--"

"Roger, Sunstreaker. I'll send him as soon as I can. Ratchet out."

He cut the transmission and went right back to work. "Brawn, see if you can contact any of the Autobots in New York and tell them to start heading back if they can. After we get Prime and everyone back to base, Skyfire will pick up the Dinobots."

Brawn grinned and shook his head. "It's sure been an interesting week."

Underneath Skyfire, Ratchet muttered, "The next time Optimus asks me to take charge I'm going to shove this drill where the sun don't shine."

* * *

After a few hours of driving and the third time Sunstreaker threatened Jazz with bodily harm for touching his radio, Crystal sat up and looked none too steadily over the front seat.

"Stop the car."

"Look human, I'm not taking orders from you," Sunstreaker spat back. "So just sit quiet and--"

"Stop and let me out or I'm going to hurl the contents of my stomach all over your interior."

The Lamborghini screeched to a violent halt, his side door flinging open. As Crystal crawled out, Sunstreaker could be heard mumbling about the disgusting functions of organics.

Optimus got out and followed the human as she waded through the weeds a few feet away. Crystal stopped and tilted her head skyward to enjoy the sunlight. Optimus came up beside her and grabbed her non-bandaged hand.

"Are you still ill?"

Crystal closed her eyes, still facing the sun. "I'll be okay. I just needed some fresh air. I was getting a little motion-sick."

The Autobot leader looked around. "We cannot stay here long. It's possible we are being followed."

Crystal looked down at him. She could see the concern in the Autobot's face despite his lack of features.

"I understand. Let's keep going."

She got back into the car but lifted Jazz as she sat in the front passenger seat, putting on her seatbelt and setting Jazz in her lap.

"You're not going to spew any kind of bodily byproduct on me, are you?" Sunstreaker warned.

"It will be fine. I'll feel better when I'm up front and can see out the window."

Prowl, from the back seat, tugged on Crystal's sleeve, "How are you feeling?"

Crystal shot him a thumbs-up. "I'm so drugged up right now that I don't feel much of anything."

"I would assume that's good," Wheeljack commented.

Prowl didn't look convinced.

Sunstreaker pulled back out on the road and they were on their way. They hadn't gone far, however, when everything shattered all around them.

* * *

Ratchet was still trying to decide whether his luck was good or bad. Right as he finished repairing Skyfire and was about to leave, another group of Autobots came in: Gears, Hound, Mirage, and Bumblebee. Ratchet was dubious of this turn out as he wasn't sure whether their appearance would have been better served earlier in the week or if now was the more opportune time.

It made no difference now. The Autobots all boarded Skyfire and flew off toward Sunstreaker's homing signal. Ratchet did not leave anyone but Teletraan I to guard the base. It may not have been what Optimus would have done, but Ratchet was willing to bet all of Megatron's resources were spent hunting for their leader halfway across the country. The unprotected base would be overlooked for the time being.

"Tell me again what we're doing, Ratchet. This seems like a huge waste of our time," Gears grouched. "We've been in Africa for two weeks and instead of being able to get the jungle gunk out of my joints, we're taking six Autobots to pick up Sunstreaker. Does this sound ridiculous to anyone else?"

"Shut up, Gears. We can always drop you off here," Brawn threatened.

"If only for a pleasant flight, I'd almost have to agree," Mirage whispered to Ratchet. "I've been listening to this for days."

Ratchet leveled a glare at Gears and insisted, "If I have to go, everyone's going."

Skyfire's radio sprang to life as an SOS full of static spat and hissed through his emergency system.

"This... Autobot Prowl. ... ambush... Sunstreaker's down... help immediately..."

Ratchet moved quickly to the controls. The situation was jumping into startling clarity. "We hear you Prowl. We're on our way. Just keep sending us your signal."

There was no response, only more static.

Ratchet looked to Brawn who was grinning.

"It's about time I got to bust some Decepticons."

Ratchet frowned. "Skyfire, we need to get there now."

The jet lurched as Skyfire put on the speed.

"Hang on, guys, we'll be there soon."

* * *

Crystal ran. She had no idea how she had come to be in the woods or why she was running. Her heart was pounding and she felt acutely afraid, though she didn't know why. She began to slow down and then heard a heavy crashing somewhere behind her. Her heart filled with fear once more as she put on a fresh burst of speed.

She raced as fast as she could until she could no longer remember why she was running. Crystal stopped and looked skyward. What was she doing in the middle of the woods? Where was she? How did she get there? For that matter, the entire day was--

"Why are you stopping?" Wheeljack demanded, grabbing her hand. "Come on!"

Crystal allowed herself to be pulled forward and began running again. It wasn't long before Crystal began to wonder why she was running and why she found herself in the woods.

Wheeljack pulled her down to lean against a tree. Crystal tried to catch her breath. How long had she been running?

Prowl was nearby, looking grave. "This is Autobot Prowl. We've been ambushed by the Stunticons. Sunstreaker is down. Send help immediately."

Prowl frowned when all he received in return was static. His size was probably interfering with his ability to transmit. He was sure at least some of his message had gotten through, even though he hadn't received a response. He had no idea where his backup was or how long it would be until they arrived, or if he could even expect them at all.

Crystal listened to the transmission in confusion. What was a Stunticon? Who was Sunstreaker? Her hands began to sting and when she looked down at them she saw they were sliced and bleeding. She felt something thick running into her eye and brought a hand to her forehead, only to realize it was covered in blood. There was glass in her hair and on her clothes. Her eyes grew to twice their size as she started to shake.

"What's wrong with you?" Ironhide demanded. He certainly looked like he had more important things to worry about.

Crystal grabbed her head, looking utterly panicked. "I don't remember! I don't remember what happened!"

The Autobots just stared at her. How could she have forgotten?

They had been driving along the freeway when the Stunticons had torn into oncoming traffic. Sunstreaker had no time to maneuver and plowed nose-first into Wildrider. While the Stunticon hardly received a scratch, the front of the Lamborghini crunched like an accordion.

The impact shot all Sunstreaker's passengers violently forward. Despite her seatbelt, Crystal's forehead hit the glass in the impact. Jazz, Optimus Prime and Ironhide, also occupying the front seats, were thrown clear through the windshield, shattering it, and onto the road.

Sunstreaker had screamed at all of them to get out and get away. Prowl gathered his wits about him and reached over to undo Crystal's seat belt, then yelled at her to open the door. She had to kick at the dented metal a few times before it finally came loose. The remaining passengers managed to scramble out just as Motormaster stomped up and rammed his fist through Sunstreaker's hood. The group escaped through the trees and they had been running ever since.

The fact that Crystal didn't seem to recall any of this was disconcerting. None of the Autobots knew enough about human physiology to understand why, though any of them would bet that the wound on her head was the reason.

Crystal was touching her forehead again, horrified anew that it was bleeding. "What happened?" she asked again. "Where are we? Is everyone okay?" She looked around, counting the Autobots.

"Where's Jazz?"

"Over here," Jazz called. The windshield on his back was shattered from being thrown from the car and he was a bit dented up, but otherwise intact.

"Where's Blaster?" Crystal then asked.

"I have him," Optimus Prime said.

"Where's Grimlock?"

"Me Grimlock here."

"Where's Jazz?"

"I said I'm over here!"

"Where--"

Ironhide put his hand over her mouth to shut her up. "Fer cryin' out loud, it's like she's stuck on a loop. Everything we tell her she forgets two seconds later."

"We need to find a way to keep her calm," Prowl said as he observed Crystal, horrified once again that her face was bleeding.

"Me Grimlock know!" And with that Grimlock, in robot mode, plopped himself in her lap.

"How is that going to help?" Ironhide demanded.

But Crystal had already flung her arms around the Dinobot and did indeed seem to be slightly placated by his presence.

"Me Grimlock fix," he told them smugly.

"Optimus," Wheeljack started, "We've got to move or the Stunticons are going to find us."

"Wheeljack's right," Prowl concurred. "We need to lead them away from Crystal and stall them as much as we can."

"I'll see if I can get a hold of Ratchet," Jazz volunteered. "That way at least we'll know if someone is coming."

Optimus nodded. "Autobots, let's do what we can to keep the Stunticons busy, but be careful."

His Autobots nodded to their leader and scattered into the woods.

Optimus placed Blaster by Crystal's side. The human's condition worried him. She was less responsive now and hardly noticed her surroundings. Her eyes were large and distant and they looked somehow wrong to him. Dried blood crusted her hair and her face, but the wound on her forehead still seeped slowly. Blood smeared on Grimlock as she continued to clutch at the Dinobot with shaking arms.

In short, she didn't look well at all. The person who had been watching over his Autobots all this time could no longer help them. It was their turn to protect her.

"Grimlock, stay with her. If any Decepticons get close, get her out of here and stay hidden," Optimus ordered the small Dinobot with a stern look.

"No need to tell me Grimlock! Me know!"

Optimus nodded. That was good enough for him, and he was gone.

* * *

Most of the landscape was forest and there was no clear area for Skyfire to land. But their targeted area wasn't hard to spot: a massive pile-up on both sides of the freeway. Skid marks striped the asphalt and the state troopers had already blocked off several lanes of traffic. Along the side of the road the cars that were out of commission waited to be towed, among them what was once a yellow Lamborghini.

Skyfire hovered over the road to allow his Autobot passengers to jump out. They quickly fanned out along the freeway, helping the local authorities to clear the lanes of traffic and allow the emergency vehicles to be on their way.

Ratchet ran to Sunstreaker's dented form. The yellow Autobot was motionless, all his windows shattered and the heavy imprint of a fist on his hood. Two of his tires were blown and his nose was crunched in.

"Sunstreaker, are you functioning? What's your status?"

"Those slaggers got me by surprise! Ran right in front of me! Now my engine's shot and I can't transform," Sunstreaker complained.

"At least his vocalizer's still in top condition," Brawn quipped.

"Slag your creator to the seventh pit of the smelter, Brawn!"

"Stop it," Ratchet ordered. "Now isn't the time. Sunstreaker, where are Prime and the others?"

"They took off into the woods and the Stunticons went after them. They got a human with them, too."

"Okay," Ratchet nodded. "We'll get you taken care of and then move to give Prime backup."

"No Ratchet, you don't understand. Megatron shrank them. Prime, Grimlock, all of them. They're smaller than humans now. They're no match for the Stunticons."

The Autobots all fell quiet at Sunstreaker's words. This wasn't good.. Ratchet's protective medic instincts kicked in full-gear.

"Autobots, the situation has changed. Get Sunstreaker loaded onto Skyfire and then we're going in. This is a rescue only. We're going to find our missing comrades and then we're going to leave. No unnecessary battles. Everyone understand?"

They all nodded, fully realizing the seriousness of their predicament.

"All right, Autobots," Ratchet announced. "Let's roll out and get them."

* * *

Sometime later, Dead End stood listlessly next to Motormaster, obviously tired of tearing up the beautiful wilderness and told his leader so.

"This has to be one of the most ridiculous errands Megatron has ever sent us on," he lamented. "Finding miniature Autobots in all of this is impossible and a waste of our collective time."

Motormaster gave him a look. "I'm sure you have many other pressing matters to attend to."

"I would have found something," Dead End insisted.

From somewhere in the thicket, Wildrider screamed something about Optimus Prime. Rapid laser fire followed his exclamation. Motormaster grinned. "At least they're getting some exercise."

Dead End sighed as he pulled out his weapon and trudged toward the noise. "I'll go see what kind of mess he got himself into."

* * *

Earlier on, Jazz and Wheeljack ran through the undergrowth as fast as their legs could carry them. The thick foliage made it impossible for them to escape in their alt modes. The snapping of thick tree trunks could be heard as Drag Strip crashed after them. The Stunticon couldn't travel through the forest in vehicle mode either, but gained on them easily with his longer stride.

The fleeing Autobots came upon a small ranger station nestled among the trees. Jazz grabbed a coiled rope hanging on the side of the building's utility shed as they passed by.

"Hey man, I got an idea. Take this other end," Jazz called as he tossed one end of the rope to Wheeljack. "I saw this in a movie."

As per Jazz's instructions, the two Autobots hid between two trees, the rope stretched between them. They waited for Drag Strip to walk by and then pulled the rope taut.

Now when Jazz had said movie, he really meant cartoon.. When they pulled the rope to trip the Stunticon, he really shouldn't have been surprised when it didn't even slow Drag Strip down. The rope caught his foot and, without proper weight resistance, the two tiny Autobots were kicked into the air. The rope snagged on a tree and Jazz and Wheeljack were sent whipping around the trunk only to collide with one another and fall to the ground.

"You're an idiot!" Wheeljack barked as he tried to climb out from under the stunned second-in-command. "What made you think that would work?"

"Hey, you're the scientist," Jazz shot back, "And I didn't hear you disproving the physics before we tried it."

"How fitting," Drag Strip announced above them. "Two Autobots, crushed beneath my foot."

He lifted his foot to squash them like insects. Jazz and Wheeljack, tangled in the rope and immobile, could only accept their end.

The scrape of metal colliding against metal interrupted their deaths and Drag Strip's body was sent flying under no power of his own. The two little Autobots stared in wonder before the full size body of Mirage appeared in front of them.

"Mirage!" Wheeljack cheered.

"Man, are you a sight!" Jazz agreed.

Mirage smirked at them. "I can imagine." Without further pleasantries, he hastily grabbed the two in one hand and moved swiftly away before Drag Strip could recover. "This is Mirage," he said in his radio. "I've secured Jazz and Wheeljack. Come pick me up!"

Within seconds, the sound of Skyfire's jet engines roared overhead and a rope trailed down through the trees. Mirage wasted no time in grabbing it and climbed up to the safety of the jet.

"Wow, Sunstreaker wasn't kidding. You guys are tiny," Skyfire commented when he saw Jazz and Wheeljack.

"It's certainly been an experience," Wheeljack replied. The tone of his voice indicated that he very much looked forward to ending this experience as soon as possible.

"Of course I wasn't kidding!" Sunstreaker insisted. "I'm not someone who jokes about these things." The yellow Autobot's totaled body sat alone at one end of the cargo hold.

"Sunstreaker," Jazz said as he put his hands on the Lamborghini's dented door. "I'm glad to see you made it out okay."

"In a manner of speaking," he grouched. "I don't care how small you guys are. Ratchet is fixing me first."

"Skyfire to Ratchet. I have seekers showing up on radar. They should arrive in fewer than ten minutes."

Ratchet's voice came in clearly through the radio. "No doubt they will have Megatron and Soundwave with them as well."

A second voice came on the line. It was quieter and full of static, but unmistakably Prowl's. "Then we are leaving in five minutes. If we can at least get into the air, then only the seekers can follow us and we'll leave the Stunticons behind. Skyfire, continue to circle but keep an eye out."

"Roger that, Skyfire out."

* * *

Wildrider grinned evilly as he stalked his prey. Usually he was the type to just crash his way through. But there was something to be said for chasing down something smaller than you and toying with it like a cat with a mouse until finally crushing it. This Autobot may have been small, but he was also bright red in a sea of greens and browns. This made it impossible for the Autobot to hide and Wildrider was really enjoying himself as he took pot shots at Ironhide every time he tried to scramble away.

Even now, he could easily see red paint poking out from behind a tree trunk. Wildrider grinned as he took aim. If it was this easy to kill this Autobot, think of how much fun it would be to go after Optimus Prime.

As if being summoned by the mere thought alone, Optimus Prime materialized right in front of Wildrider's optics. Not only was he not in miniature, Optimus Prime seemed a giant. The Autobot leader towered above the surprised Stunticon, reaching down to grab him.

Wildrider screamed and frantically fired his energy rifle. All shots went right through the massive Autobot leader and he kept coming.

Hound, camouflaged among the brush and undergrowth in his hiding space, dashed forth to scoop up Ironhide. He ran swiftly from the scene while Wildrider still screamed at the hologram of Optimus Prime. "This is Hound. I've got Ironhide and I need a lift."

As he ran, he almost collided directly with Deadend and both were equally surprised to see each other. For a moment, they just stared, unsure what to do.

"Shoot him Hound!" Ironhide barked. "Shoot!"

Hound instantly reacted to the order and his finger squeezed the trigger reflexively, hitting Dead End square in the face. The Stunticon fell backward with a startled cry, clutching the exposed wiring that used to be his face.

Ironhide chuckled. "Now that's how ya do it!" he announced.

Hound looked a bit disturbed by the scene. He hadn't meant to aim for the head. Stepping back from the grisly sight, he grabbed the rope that dangled toward him and the pair made their escape.

* * *

It had remained quiet where Crystal hid. There were a few sounds of laser fire in the distance, but nothing close enough to be considered an immediate threat. They were well hidden among some dense ferns, but Crystal wasn't exactly being as quiet as possible. Every few minutes she would forget why she was there and Grimlock would briefly explain in a gruff, short voice that she better be quiet lest she wanted to die. He didn't particularly mind answering the same questions over and over. It was similar to living with Sludge so he was used to it.

Nearby, the bushes shuddered and Crystal held her breath. Grimlock transformed into dinosaur mode and growled.

Out of the woods came a massive yellow and green robot. Crystal stiffened at the sight of him and pressed herself against the tree trunk, but Grimlock transformed back into robot mode.

"That just Brawn. Him Autobot. No need to be scared of him."

"Brawn!" Blaster squawked, making Crystal jump again. "Get us the slag out of here!"

Crystal didn't look too convinced. Though he may have been an Autobot, he was also the largest Autobot she had ever seen. With even bigger robots nearby, trying to kill her, she didn't know if she wanted to leave her little hideaway place.

Brawn didn't look too thrilled with what he found. It was quite a pathetic little nest. He just hoped the human girl wasn't going to cry or anything. He hated when they did that.

"This is Brawn. I found Blaster, Grimlock, and the human." He added as an afterthought, "If you could give me a stationary lift that would probably be best."

Right then, Skyfire flew by and hovered over them, a line from his cargo hold hanging down.

Brawn reached out to the human girl. "Come on, kid. We're getting out of here."

Crystal looked at the massive grey hand stretched out to her. She hesitated only a moment before grabbing Blaster and taking the hand. Brawn pulled her out of the brush and easily lifted her in one arm without any warning. Crystal squeaked in surprise and clutched the radio tighter.

Next, Brawn grabbed Grimlock and set him on his shoulder before taking hold of the rope. Crystal, guessing what was going to happen, steeled herself by pressing as tightly against his chest as she could. Beneath the metal armor she could hear a thick, almost soothing thrumming. It distracted her momentarily until Brawn was pulled up into the air. She clung to him as they were hauled inside the large jet in which Crystal squirmed free and scrambled away from the exit to sit against the wall, Blaster still in her arms.

There were robots even bigger than Brawn in the jet. Crystal very much felt out of her element. Wheeljack and Jazz approached her, still the same small size she was used to. Wheeljack took Blaster from her so he could put the radio in a safe place. Jazz settled down next to her, as did Grimlock on the other side. The mini Autobots were unable to do much else, but Crystal seemed to calm down in their presence.

"We've got to get out of here, now!" Skyfire's voice called out insistently.

Ratchet was climbing up the rope into the bay with Prowl on his shoulder. "Roger, we're almost done."

Below them, Gears and Cliffjumper ran from Motormaster. Skyfire angled toward them and pulled up as they grabbed the rope. The duo went swinging back toward the leader of the Stunticons and Cliffjumper kicked him in the head as they went by.

"Don't do that!" Gears yelled at him. "You're just going to piss him off and he's going to start shooting--"

Motormaster was already firing at all of them as they flew away.

"All in and accounted for?" Skyfire asked.

Gears and Cliffjumper climbed in and Gears let Optimus Prime off his shoulders. "We've got everyone."

"Then I'm heading back to base."

Ratchet and Prowl continued to stand at the open hanger door. They could see the Decepticon seekers approaching quickly in the distance.

"They're not going to follow us," Prowl surmised. "Even if they could catch us, there's no guarantee he would win and Megatron doesn't have the energy to gamble on that kind of confrontation."

As Prowl predicted, the seekers did not follow in pursuit. Their enemies descended to rejoin the abandoned Stunticons and relief spread through the group. At last it was over.

* * *

The three seekers landed and transformed, as did those they were carrying: Megatron and Soundwave. The defeated Stunticons slowly came out of the woods and rallied around their leader.

"Was it really too much to ask for you to hold those Autobots for a few minutes more?" Megatron growled. "We were so close!"

No one said anything in his defense.

"It's too bad. We finally got this thing fixed," Rumble said as he climbed out of Thundercracker who was still in jet mode. The little cassette pulled the newly repaired death ray with him. "We got no one to use it on now."

"Hey, let me hold it Rumble," Frenzy insisted, grabbing the weapon.

"No way Frenzy, I've got it just fine," Rumble argued, pulling back.

The two bickered and tugged at the weapon until they both pulled so hard they dropped it. There was the sound of something shattering inside and a piece of the weapon fell off.

"Slag!" Rumble shouted.

"Just like last time!" Frenzy concurred.

The two froze when they realized what they just admitted to.

Megatron was trembling with rage. "YOU!! You broke my death ray?!"

Rumble and Frenzy both tried to explain at the same time, talking up a storm and making no sense whatsoever. Eventually they both transformed and fled inside Soundwave's chest. Then only Soundwave stood in front of his furious leader, and even he had to take a step back.

Megatron clenched his fists and the forest echoed with his cry of rage and frustration.

* * *

Upon reaching Oregon and their home city of Portland, Skyfire's first stop was the local hospital to drop of his human passenger. Then he and all the Autobots returned to their base, ready to assess the situation. Within a few hours, all the miniaturized Autobots had gathered in Wheeljack's lab.

"Blaster, would you come sit down for just a minute?" Wheeljack demanded. "I just need to get those weapon plans downloaded."

"Come on, chill man," Blaster insisted as he danced around the lab, newly-repaired. "I've been immobile for 6 days! Give me a break! Give me some time to move around a bit."

Ratchet's hand came down on Blaster's shoulder and he pushed him roughly into a chair. "Sit!" the medic ordered and Blaster sat as he was roughly hooked up to Teletraan I for the extraction of Soundwave's weapon plans.

"I should have fixed him after I got the plans," Wheeljack mumbled.

He stood on his work bench, right next to the screen, trying to navigate the large controls. The other mini Autobots were sprinkled around the room. Optimus and Prowl had agreed that it was a good idea for all of them to stay in one place until a device could be built that would return them to their normal size.

Sparkplug Witwicky, a long-time friend of the Autobots, stepped in looking tired. "Well, I finally got all the paperwork sorted out," he said in an irritated tone. "I hate hospitals. They have a form for every little thing. And the fact that you guys didn't tell me she had a LOT of bruising from events prior to her accident didn't help at all. I had to talk to an inspector about domestic abuse. It's a good thing that girl was coherent enough to explain what happened. Boy, it's been a long night."

"But she'll be okay, right?" Jazz asked. He was sitting cross-legged on a chair that was much too big for him or even his human friend.

"Yeah, they say she's fine. She had a concussion which gave her some temporary short term memory loss, but she'll recover. Her face though, we'll see how that heals. Girls can be very particular about their faces. They're keeping her at the hospital over night so they can watch her. She's still a little confused about what happened to her. But that will give me some time to figure out what I'm going to do with her in the morning."

Sparkplug looked down when he felt something tug on his pant leg. It was Grimlock, nosing around his ankles.

"What are you doing?" he asked the metal dinosaur.

Grimlock just looked at him, growled, and wandered off.

"What's up with him?" Sparkplug wondered.

"He's been acting off kilter for a while," Wheeljack said without looking up from his work. "As soon as we fix our size situation I'm going to run a full diagnostic on him. You know, Ratchet, we should send a copy of this to Perceptor at the Cybertron base. I'm sure he could figure it out real quick. He had a shrinking device of his own, I recall."

"On it," Ratchet nodded. "I'll send it right away."

"So," Jazz spoke up again. "We're probably going to be this way for a bit longer. Maybe one of us could stay with Crystal for a while. You know, so she's not by herself."

"I'm sure that would be fine," Sparkplug agreed. "But they're not letting you in with that, Jazz." He pointed to the Autobot's back; broken glass where his windshield used to be.

Jazz looked crestfallen.

"I'll go," Prowl said, already walking toward the door. "Please keep me updated while I am gone."

Sparkplug had turned to follow as Hound poked his head into the room.

"Hey Prime, I just got a call from Tracks; he's still in New York. He said Bluestreak and Sideswipe are in jail and the Dinobots are being held at the Central Park Zoo."

Optimus slumped while Ratchet put a hand thoughtfully on his hip. "Oh yeah... I forgot about those guys..."

* * *

Despite his preference to walk, Prowl was carried into the hospital. A few of the orderlies did double-takes at him, assuming Sparkplug to be carrying a child in his arms. The second look confirmed he actually held a child-sized black and white robot.

The lights were dim in Crystal's room. There were two beds, the first unoccupied. The second housed a body with familiar rust-colored hair splayed all over. Crystal was laying with her back to them, her side rising and falling slowly. Sparkplug set Prowl down at the foot of her bed.

"I'll come pick you up in a few hours," he told the small second-in-command. "Or just radio the base if you need anything. I'll probably be there all night."

Prowl nodded wordlessly and watched the human go. He could see Sparkplug shake his head as he left. Prowl wondered if it was odd to his long time human acquaintance to see them at this size. He was a bit surprised himself at how he was getting used to it. Though, truth be told, he would still much rather be his own size again. But one more night at his current height wasn't going to hurt.

He trod softly across the bed to sit cross-legged near Crystal's head. She appeared to be sleeping. The right side of her forehead above the eye to her hairline was bandaged, as were portions of her hands and arms. Prowl just sat and watched her, taking full note of her condition and watching the movements of her breathing.

After several minutes, Crystal's eyes fluttered open to land upon the visitor on her bed.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"How are you feeling?" Prowl asked.

"Mm... not too bad I guess. Everything's... kind of fuzzy. You're home now, right?"

"Yes, we're home."

"And everyone made it safely?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad."

Crystal shut her eyes for a moment but then opened them again when Prowl's small hand grabbed hers. He reminded her of a cat. He was independent, fully capable of taking care of himself. But, for whatever reason, he was always coming back. And, sometimes, even wanting her attention for whatever reason. She idly wondered if by scratching him between the door panels she could get his motor to purr.

"What are you grinning about?" Prowl demanded.

Crystal instantly tried squelch her smile. "Nothing."

Prowl frowned and Crystal, while usually finding Prowl's frowns amusing in their own right, sobered as well.

"Hey listen, I'm really sorry about what I said to you the other night. That wasn't a fair thing to ask. I was a little freaked out and, you know, not feeling well. I wasn't thinking."

"It's okay," Prowl replied and he looked over her and out the door. "I think it's a question we all ask ourselves from time to time, how to prove that we are alive, and also of our fellow beings who are different than us. It's a valid question. But one, unfortunately, that is not easy to answer."

"It's true," Crystal agreed. "But still no excuse to break down on you like that."

Prowl was quiet for a moment. He wasn't good with these kinds of things. Empathy, comfort, he didn't really know how to show them. Jazz did. It came naturally to him. What would Jazz do at a time like this?

Prowl took her arm and pulled it over him as he slid up next to her. Crystal rested her cheek on the top of his helmet and Prowl could feel the rhythmic thrumming of her heart.

"You did everything you could for us. That's all we could have asked. You gave more than you should have. For that, we are all thankful."

There was a deep vibration in Crystal's chest as she chuckled. "I bet you guys were awesome, too, out there. Definitely a combined effort."

"Yes," Prowl agreed. "Would you like... me to read some more to you?"

Crystal giggled in his audio. "Sure, why not?"

Author's Notes: Thank you everyone for the comments from the last chapter. I was really surprised with the turn out of quality comments I received. I was not expecting that at all. I was just trying to get someone to stop harrassing me. But thank you all the same. I really tried to get this chapter out fast as a token of my thanks, but those darn fight scenes always slow me down. So thank you for being patient as well.

Also, thank you to my sister who wrote the Japanese dialogue. Don't worry, I don't know what it says either except I know "Gozira! Gozira!" means "Godzilla! Godzilla!" lol

And also thanks to Ardlent who proofread this chapter for me and will probably be proofreading future chapters and stories.


	8. Epilogue: The Days After

Small Problems

By: Ghost of the Dawn

Epilogue: The Days After

Crystal stayed with the man named Sparkplug Witwicky for a couple of days while she regained her health. She liked him. He had a gruff way of talking, but still had a caring, fatherly way about him. He reminded her of her own father who had also been rough around the edges, but cared in his own way. His house was also very homey and comfortable.

While staying with him, Crystal learned a bit about Sparkplug and his family's history with the Autobots. He and his son had met them some twenty odd years ago. Now, his son was married and had a son of his own. Crystal enjoyed hearing the stories, but she also expressed her desire to be on her own two feet again. Sparkplug fully understood and offered his assistance in helping her find a job and an apartment.

"Hey Crystal," Sparkplug called to her after the third day of staying with him. "There's something out front for you."

Crystal looked up from her employment ads, but Sparkplug offered no further information. Curiously, she got up and poked her head out the door. Out front was Crystal's car. But that wasn't what made her squeal. it was the silver Porsche parked in front of it.

Crystal dashed from the house and threw herself on the white four decorating the hood.

"My favorite number," she cooed at the car. "Look how big and beautiful you are!"

Jazz chuckled. "Yup! Everyone's back to normal. Get in here so I can take a good look at you."

He opened his driver side door and Crystal happily sat inside.

"Ooh, very nice interior, Jazz," she praised as she rand her hand over the dash board.

"Thanks! You look like you're doing okay yourself."

Crystal touched the bandage decorating her forehead.

"Yeah, I'm still picking glass out of it and I have to keep my hand bandaged for another couple of weeks. But I'm feeling better."

"I'm sorry you got hurt," Jazz said in a sober tone.

"It's okay. I'm just glad you're all safe." She made a sad noise as she hugged his steering wheel. "I can't fit my arms around you any more."

"Aw, I'm sorry. We salvaged what we could from Sunstreaker's trunk and put it in your car. Maybe that will make it up to you."

Crystal looked a bit confused, but smiled anyway. "Thanks! I'll be happy to finally get my clothes back."

Jazz paused. "You wouldn't want to go for a ride with me, would you?"

Crystal's eyes widened. "Really? Do you want me to get in the passenger seat?"

"Nope. You're fine. Just buckle up and hold on."

Crystal poked her head out of the window. "Mr. Witwicky, Jazz is going to take me for a drive. I'll be back later."

"That's fine. Enjoy yourselves," Sparkplug nodded as he waved them off.

"This is so weird," Crystal said a few minutes into the drive. She had her hands on the steering wheel but was allowing it to turn by itself. It took a bit of will power not to push the pedals. "It's hard to get used to. I feel like I want to take control."

"You did fine last time with Sunstreaker," Jazz chuckled. "But then again, you weren't in the driver's seat."

That name again...

"I actually don't remember any of it," Crystal admitted.

"Really? Will you ever?

"Gone forever, says the doctor. The whole day. Last thing I remember is the hospital that night."

"That's a bummer."

"I don't know." Crystal looked out the window. "I don't feel like they would be memories I would want to keep anyway. I'm just glad the worst part is over."

Jazz suddenly swerved and Crystal grabbed for the wheel.

"Ha ha! Made you flinch!"

"Jazz!" Crystal barked, kicking at the car where ever she dared.

"Hey! Hey! I'm driving! Don't distract me!"

"Then don't scare me like that!" Crystal paused when she noticed they were heading out of the city. "Hey, where are we going?"

Ahead, there were miles of open space and Mount Saint Hilary in the distance.

"Going to my home base so you can see how the other half lives."

Crystal stiffened as she looked at the volcano getting closer.

"Are we going inside?"

"Well, yeah. If you want to."

Crystal bit her lip. "I'm not very comfortable with going inside. Is that... okay?"

Jazz chuckled. "Lady, anything you want is okay by me."

Crystal gave him a thankful smile. Then frowned when she saw Jazz hadn't changed his course. Mount Saint Hilary was coming up fast.

"Umm..."

"Don't worry Crys, we're not going to get too close to it, I promise."

He stopped on a rise where the Ark, the spaceship that now served as the Autobot base, could be seen poking out of the side of the volcano. From the entrance, a black and while police car drove out to meet them. Crystal got out as it parked beside Jazz and she ran her hand over the top of the car. Then she bent to look in through the driver side window.

"Hi Prowl."

"Hello. How are you feeling?"

Crystal smiled. She couldn't count how often the police car had asked her that.

"I'm doing great. How about yourself?"

"Very well. Running at 98% efficiency. Thank you." He rolled down his window. "I brought someone with me."

Crystal peered inside and saw a yellow and red boom box.

"Blaster!" She pulled him out through the window. "Are you all fixed now?"

"You bet babe!" The radio crowed happily. "Check this out!"

Blaster jumped out of her hands. Crystal let out a squawk of surprise as the small device folded out into a giant robot. She stumbled back from the behemoth towering over her, tripping and landing none too gently against Jazz's side.

"Crys, you okay?" The Porsche transformed into his robot mode and Crystal scrambled away from him as well.

"Careful you two," Prowl ordered. He had also transformed into robot mode and stretched his arm to hold the others back.

Crystal sat on the ground, wide eyed and clutching at her chest.

"Give me a mini heart attack!" she accused. "A little warning next time would be nice!"

"Sorry," Jazz said, though he was still grinning.

He slowly sat himself down cross legged and stretched out his hand, waiting for the human to come to him.

Though hesitant, Crystal got to her feet and slowly made her way over to them. Jazz now understood why she wasn't wanting to step foot inside the Ark. He would never have guessed it of her, but she seemed truly intimidated by their size. And why wouldn't she be? They had been around the Witwicky family so long, Jazz had forgotten how frightened they had been of them the first time they met. Not to mention Crystal's various run ins with the full-sized Decepticons probably didn't help.

Crystal stared as she put her hands on Jazz's finger. The size difference was staggering. She knew they were going to be big, but nothing could have prepared her for the real thing. They now felt like they truly were; a world far different from hers.

"You guys are huge," she said stupidly.

"But harmless," Jazz insisted. "Come on Crys, you know it's still us."

Crystal leaned in closer to him and lowered her voice to more of a whisper. "Jazz, why is Blaster taller than you? He turns into a radio."

Jazz frowned. "Because life's not fair."

"Believe it babe," Blaster said. "All this awesome can fit in a convenient little package." He transformed back into radio mode and fell neatly into her arms. "You can still hug me."

To which she did and then pulled back sadly. "Aww... it's not the same. I wish you stayed the same size when you turned back into a robot."

"So sorry," was Blaster's sarcastic response. "I'll speak to my creator about that right away."

"Prime apologizes for not being able to meet you," Prowl said. "He and the others had responsibilities to attend to."

Crystal gave him a satisfied smile. "That's good. It's what I hoped; to get you guys home so everything would return to normal."

Prowl nodded, also satisfied. "Yes, that was the goal. To return back to the regular routine. And I'm afraid I must get back to work soon as well. I'm sorry I can't stay longer."

"Do you what you gotta do," Crystal replied. "I should get back to work on getting my own life together. Can't live off someone else forever."

Prowl nodded and transformed back into card mode. Crystal placed Blaster back inside.

"I wish you luck," Prowl said. "And it was good to see you."

"You too, Prowl."

Crystal watched the police car drive away. Her eyes followed him all the way to the entrance of the Ark. As he drove in, a large robotic T-Rex stalked out. He seemed to sniff the air and turned his massive head in her direction. Crystal gave him a small wave.

Grimlock just watched her. The tip of his tail twitched. Then he turned and lumbered off.

Jazz had also been watching.

"Don't worry about it, Crys. That's just the way he is."

Crystal shook her head. "It's okay. He's where he belongs now."

She looked up at Jazz, taking in his size. He let her look over him from top to bottom and then gave a crooked smile.

"So do you not like me any more because I'm too big now?"

"Aww, Jazz..." Crystal walked over and pressed her hands and cheek against the warm metal of his shin. "I will always like you no matter what your size."

"Glad to hear it," Jazz chuckled. "Shall I escort you home then?"

Crystal backed up to give him room to transform.

"I would be delighted."

* * *

Later that day, Prowl walked into Optimus Prime's office, vid pad in hand.

"Here's the report of the damages the Dinobots inflicted in New York," Prowl said as he handed it to his leader. "Ratchet's repair crew reduced the costs considerably. Here is what's left."

Optimus glanced over the numbers. "Good, Prowl. This amount shouldn't be a problem. Thank you."

Prowl nodded and turned to leave. The room Optimus used as an office was small. It was hardly more than a utility closet refurnished after the Autobots decided their crashed space ship was good enough to serve as their base of operations.

The room was modest and hardly befitted one of Optimus' status, but he insisted it more than suited his needs. The place had also stayed fairly plain over the years so upon leaving, Prowl instantly noticed something different.

Silver chimes were hanging on the wall. Prowl recognized them as the ones from Crystal's car. Optimus must have had them on him when he was returned to his normal size. The chimes would never fit on her rear view mirror now. It was big enough to clearly read the inscription on the ornate piece of metal that the three chimes were tied to.

Prowl turned to Optimus. "Why did you take that?"

Unphased by the blatant question, Optimus wandered over to look at it, hands clasped behind his back.

"It means something to me," he said simply. "I didn't mean to keep it, but I'm afraid I can't give it back now."

Prowl looked at the inscription for a while.

"I'm sure she will forgive you," he said and then left the room.

* * *

A week and a half later, Crystal hefted two full bags up the stairs to her new apartment. She liked it. The neighborhood seemed nice and it was close to the firm she had a job interview at. Of which she was hopeful, having similar job experience back in New York.

The apartment was bare and unfurnished, but Crystal didn't care. It was now a place she could call home. She dropped to the ground and curled up on the carpet among the few belongings she still had left. She sighed heavily as she stared at the plain white wall. The apartment was quite small, but at that moment it felt big and impossibly quiet.

The End

... To be Continued in "Ghost in the Machine"

* * *

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who read this story, especially those who sent me reviews! I really appreciate the support of this fic. There are actually five books in this series and most of them have already been written and posted. If you liked this fic, I sincerely hope you'll also take time to read the sequel "Ghost in the Machine".


End file.
